Forever
by NightFury812
Summary: A few years after defeating Pitch, Jack Frost returns to the town of Burgess to bring about winter once more and hang out with Jamie. However, when Pitch suddenly appears and tries to kidnap the boy, Jack swears upon his life that he will protect Jamie or die trying.
1. The Consequences of Ignoring Jack Frost

**Forever**

Chapter 1: The Consequences of Ignoring Jack Frost

* * *

There it was again, that creepy feeling of being watched.

Eyeing the window to his left suspiciously, Jamie wondered if Jack was back early or if he was just being extremely paranoid. He'd never once seen Jack at his school before in the past few years they had known each other though which made him somewhat skeptical. He pondered this for a bit then finally decided that he was just being paranoid. It was probably just pent up excitement about getting out of school in ten more minutes. Ten excruciatingly long minutes...

"That's it for notes today, any questions?" The petite English teacher asked, her chocolate eyes scanning the room full of half-asleep teenagers. "I guess not," she murmured under her breath. "So like I promised at the beginning of the hour, I'm going to hand everyone's essays back. I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the overall grade average."

Jamie zoned out again, ignoring his teacher Mrs. Summers as his tongue unconsciously sought out his loose tooth again. It sucked to be fifteen years old with a loose tooth since almost everyone at his age had finished with this problem during middle school. Although he didn't care too much about fitting in with his peers, he wanted to at least be as normal as possible so he wouldn't get singled out. However, these were also the same people that stopped believing in the guardians during middle school as well, so maybe he was just destined to be different forever.

At least he would get a visit from the tooth fairy soon…

"Ah, and here's yours Jamie," Mrs. Summers quietly interrupted the young teen from his thoughts. "It's a bit of an improvement from your previous assignment, but you're still going to need to get at least a B next time in order to pass this semester."

Blinking blankly in response as he took in the sloppily written D on the top of his paper, Jamie nearly groaned in frustration at the thought of the lecture from his parents he would be forced to listen to tonight.

Nodding in response to his teacher who gave him one last worried glance before continuing on, Jamie quickly hid the paper in his binder and sulked for the rest of the class period. At that moment Jamie wished that wasn't different for once because everyone except him was celebrating over their passing grades. Cries of happiness and sighs of relief sounded around him like a choir of happy birds.

Blinded by the drowning sense of regret and self-pity, Jamie left the room as soon as the bell rang. Sadly, he was too oblivious at that point to notice the slowly forming frosted handprint on the window closest to his desk.

* * *

The twenty minute bus trip stretched on longer than usual, although it was probably due to him getting to the bus late, so he ended up with an aisle seat next to his sister Sophie. However, there was one saving grace, the bus bullies were too busy torturing some poor soul in the back to pay any attention to him.

Leaning forward to rest his forehead against the seat in front of him, Jamie tried to take a small nap beside his sister Sophie knowing that she would wake him once they had arrived at their stop. Yet all attempts to do so quickly failed when someone began jabbing him in the side almost playfully until finally he pushed him over onto Sophie.

"What the heck?" Jamie complained turning to his left to snap at whoever had shoved him, only to see the bus bullies moving forward to sit in the seat across from him. If he had stayed in the spot he had been in close to the aisle, Jamie would have been the perfect unsuspecting target. Whoever had pushed him further into the seat had moved him just out of reach from the bullies that were scanning the seats for their next target. Quickly shifting his gaze downwards, Jamie checked on his baffled sister who gave him a small smile and reassured him that she was fine.

Settling back into his seat, the young teen couldn't help but flinch as a loud crack came from the seat next to him as one of the bullies Steven yanked the window open. A chilling breeze whipped through the bus, and Jamie had to suppress a shiver while he wished he'd remembered that morning to bring a sweatshirt or jacket. The only good part about the cold meant that his friend Jack Frost would be arriving soon.

"Please stop! That hurts!" A shrill cry of pain sounded to the left on the other side of the bus.

"Give me your wallet, and then I'll stop." The bulky seventeen year old bully named Richard demanded, yanking the victim's arm back.

Jamie glanced up as the little brunette haired girl sobbed in response, not wanting to give up her money. Letting out a small sigh, Jamie knew that he couldn't stay silent, but the immense amount of bruises he was about to receive was going to hurt like hell. He opened his drying mouth to tell Richard to stop harassing the girl, but fear enveloped him as he started to voice his complaint.

However, his almost heroic effort was rendered pointless when Richard flung himself into the aisle, stretching his arm forward to attempt to grab the small pink wallet out of the girl's hands. It happened so suddenly, one second he was there and in the next he had fallen flat on his face as he slipped on the aisle floor. Letting out a humiliating yelp of fear as he went down, Richard had at last attracted the unwanted attention of the bus driver. "Richard, please come forward to the front of the bus!"

Face flushing in embarrassment, the defeated teen left to go sit in the front while the rest of the people in the back quietly cheered. It was then that the bus lurched to a halt at Jamie and Sophie's stop. However unlike Jamie who quickly fled from the vehicle, Sophie stopped to examine the floor of the aisle smiling slightly to herself at the thin layer of ice that had yet to melt away completely.

* * *

All was quiet in Jamie's house except for the occasional crunch sounds as the boy sluggishly tried to finish an entire bowl of cheetos. The pain from his loose tooth was killing him though, and it became harder and harder for him not to agitate it. Eventually he gave up on the impossible task and just rolled onto his belly with his face buried in his overly fluffy pillow. "This day stinks!" Jamie yelled into his pillow, choking back a sob.

Still unnoticed by the young teen, the winter spirit by the window raised an eyebrow at the sudden outburst while he mildly pondered how much longer it would take for Jamie to notice him. Rubbing his thumb absentmindedly against his staff, Jack soon decided that seven hours had been long enough. A perfectly round cerulean snowball formed in the palm of his hand and with a quick toss it hit the back of Jamie's head.

Jolting upwards with a howl of shock, Jamie's hands flew to his neck where he quickly scrambled to remove the freezing substance. "Wha-? What in the? Where?" Jamie whipped around to see Jack struggling not to make a sound as he silently laughed beside his window. "You do realize that I'm going to have to kill you now?"

Managing to get his laughing fit under control, Jack appeared to be amused at Jamie's weak threat. "Oh? Well how are you going to do that?" The spirit pushed off from the wall, twirling his staff around in his hands.

"I'll... I'll... Melt you!" Jamie declared, wincing mentally at how stupid he sounded as he lunged forward off the bed, taking Jack by surprise.

Eyes dilating at the unexpected attack, Jack made to move out of the way when the young teen latched his arms around his middle and gave him a crushing hug. Stiffening at the sudden contact, it was Jamie's turn to laugh as Jack twitched in his hold. "For some reason I thought you'd at least try to escape."

Snapping out of the trance, Jack hurriedly slithered out of Jamie's hold like a slippery bar of soap and leapt away to the other side of the room to crouch onto the nightstand. Jamie bent over and held his aching ribs as he laughed himself to tears. "Y-You should have seen the look on your face."

Teary coffee eyes looked up, expecting to Jack playfully glaring at him. However, Jack was tightly clenching his staff in his hand as he concentrated his gaze on the floor, trying desperately to calm himself. Taking a few steps forward, Jamie could have sworn that he saw Jack wince slightly as he forced himself to loosen his grip on the staff and begin to relax his tense muscles.

"I really was just kidding about the whole melting you thing. Are you okay?"

Nodding Jack sat back a bit more into a more comfortable position. "Sorry, I just had a f... I'm not really used to... physical contact."

Falling back to sit on the bed, Jamie scratched the back of his neck nervously. "No, I should be the one apologizing. Sorry for um… for hugging you so suddenly."

Rolling his icy eyes, Jack hopped to his feet and messed up Jamie's hair before stepping back. "You know, I've been trying to get your attention all day, Kiddo. Then when I finally did get your attention, all I got in return was death threats and not to mention assaulted! I feel like you should at least owe me something at this point." Jack said mischievously, his mouth shaping into a grin.

"Like what?" The young teen blinked owlishly up at Jack.

Leaning back against the wall, Jack's posture relaxed while his icy eyes betrayed his excitement as he requested. "Snowball fight?"

A spark of pure happiness lit up Jamie's face before he seemed to recall something and fell into an unhappy pout. Jack frowned and gave the boy a questioning look just as Jamie explained. "I'm grounded, I can't go outside."

"Well, that's no fun." Silence ensued until Jack gave a soft laugh. "But I can fix that problem if you want me to."

Giving Jack a look of disbelief, Jamie raised an eyebrow as he awaited an explanation.

"You see with this magical glow stick of destiny," he gestured to his staff as he poured some energy into it, causing it to light up cerulean blue in response, "I can fly us out of here through that window and no one would ever know." Jamie grinned happily at the loophole Jack had found, but a faint rise of voices from the living room downstairs hurriedly crushed the two boys hopes of leaving anytime soon.

Sighing Jamie gave Jack a guilty look before telling him. "My parents will be up for another hour. I don't want to leave before they fall asleep in case they decide to check up on me."

"Man you have the worst luck today," The winter spirit stated, putting his free hand into his hoodie pocket as he walked around the room, unable to stand still.

"Tell me about it," Jamie mumbled, his body language suggesting that this new disappointment wasn't that much of a surprise to him as it should have been. Hating to see Jamie look so sad and unJamie like, Jack's eyes darted around the room for something to distract them with while they waited for their future snowball fight.

Eventually he arrived back to his favorite spot in the room as he lightly perched on top of the nightstand once more. Frowning he scanned the room again, but this time his icy eyes lingered on the large bowl resting at the edge of the bed. "Hey, Jamie what do have in there?"

Following Jack's gaze, Jamie smiled faintly as he reached over to grab the bowl that rested on the other side of his bed. "Have you ever had cheetos before?"

Shaking his head slowly back and forth, the Jack leaned forward slightly to stare at the orange junk food. Cocking his head to the side curiously, he watched as Jamie popped one in his mouth and crunched on the cheesy treat. Then the boy proceeded to suck the cheese remains off his fingers until they were deemed clean once more.

Grabbing the bowl with the hand he didn't eat the cheeto with, Jamie offered it to Jack, waiting patiently for him to reach out to grab one. Taking one and sniffing it cautiously, Jack eyed it as if debating on whether or not he should try it before finally placing it into his mouth. Instantly his eyes widened to the size of saucers as his taste buds exploded from the sheer amount of flavor the small snack contained. It took nearly all of his will power to not spit the food out at first. Then after carefully chewing it a few times he became used to the overpowering taste.

Swallowing the cheeto, Jack looked up at Jamie who was waiting for Jack's final decision.

"It's... okay," The frost spirit said at last, not wasting any time in grabbing another and popping it into his mouth.

With a playful groan, Jamie put the bowl down on the nightstand next to Jack, watching with interest as winter spirit began to eat the cheetos at an even faster pace. "Great, I managed to get Jack Frost addicted to cheetos. I think I just doomed my house's entire supply."

"Well," Jack began as he started licking the cheese off his fingers, "you did owe me a favor."

* * *

**A/N: So yeah, I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of Forever. If you like it so far, I would love it if you left a review. Also this will not turn into a yaoi, slash ect. it's going to be a brotherly/friendship sort of love thing the entire story. **

**I tried to wait for the movie to be released before starting this new fanfic, but Jack Frost finally got to me and this story began to nag at me more and more to start writing it... I have a feeling this is going to be one of those movies that I can't stop myself from going to the movie theater to see it over and over again. I even have a ROTG popcorn bucket to add to my growing obsession...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG in any way, shape, or form... **


	2. Darkness Rises Once More

**Forever**

Chapter 2: Darkness Rises Once More

* * *

_Warning: A few minor spoilers from the ROTG movie are in this chapter..._

* * *

As much fun as it was to have a snowball fight, the real fun was watching Jack create a winter wonderland in mere minutes. Jamie sat near the edge of the lake completely entranced as the winter spirit flew around and encased the entire lake with ice. With a few quick waves of his staff, he even got it to start snowing cotton ball sized snowflakes from the sky.

Holding out his tongue, Jamie giggled as he collected a few stray snowflakes. It wouldn't be enough snow to have a snow day tomorrow, but it would be perfect for the epic battle that was about to commence between them.

"And that should do it." Jack announced with one final burst of power that summoned a raging snow flurry that buffeted the shivering boy on the ground.

Jumping to his feet with a happy grin on his face, Jamie pumped his fists into the air as he shouted. "That was awesome!" Turning around to where Jack was floating above the lake, Jamie just barely ducked in time to avoid an incoming snowball.

"Ha ha ha, I didn't think you would be able to dodge that one!" Sliding across the surface of the lake, Jack swept his staff across the freshly fallen snow to create hundreds of snowy weapons. The winter spirit reached down to snatch a few up only to get pelted by a half a dozen snowballs. Laughing as he lost his balance in the snow and flew into the air to escape the sudden assault, Jack watched as Jamie chucked a few more at him which he avoided with ease.

"Let's play a game!" The coffee haired teen suggested to the smirking spirit above him.

Jack's head tilted to the side as he considered the idea. "What kind of game?"

Jamie ran a hand through his messed up hair as he tried to come up with a two person game, but never once did he take his eyes off the mischievous spirit. Rolling a snowball around in his mitten covered hands the boy's chocolate eyes suddenly widened as he finally thought of something. "I got it! Let's play a point game, where the person with the most successful snowball throws that hit the other person in the next hour wins."

"Sounds interesting, but I believe that you're going to be at quite a disadvantage." Jack floated down and landed in the center of the lake.

"Bring it on!" Jamie challenged with an overconfident grin.

"I bet you won't even be able to hit me once, Kiddo."

"Alright, now you've asked for it!"

Within seconds the two began chucking icy projectiles at each other, neither straying to far from the frozen lake. Their laughter filled the dead silence of the night as the two battled competitively for the next hour. However, they both failed to notice the slowly forming smokey black mass that oozed out of the ground nearby. Within minutes it slipped off into the forest undetected by the two boys, leaving an ominous trail of frightened forest creatures in it's wake.

* * *

"We're back, Kiddo." Jack quietly told the sleepy young teenager who had somehow tightly wrapped his arms around his torso and snuggled against his hoodie on the flight back to his house. Jamie mumbled half a response before falling unconscious once more, and Jack chuckled in amusement.

However, his smile was quick to fade as he leapt up onto the bed and crouched down to push Jamie off of him. Mentally cursing as a familiar sense of Déjà vu came to him, Jack pulled against Jamie's crushing hold, and gasped in pain as he irritated his side injury. Rolling around in the bed in an attempt to dislodge himself, Jack was quick to leap away to safety as Jamie decided to latch onto his pillow instead.

"You and you're sister both, huh?" Jack chuckled as he leapt back onto the windowsill. Glancing back over his shoulder, Jack let out a happy sigh of relief at the sight of Jamie smiling as golden dream sand began to swirl around his head forming snowflakes. Satisfied that he had at last gotten rid of Jamie's bad mood, Jack pulled the hood to his hoodie over his head before jumping out the window and summoning the wind to carry him high above the town of Burgess.

The view was as breathless as always, the town's streetlights glittered like a thousand fireflies. Snow decorated the streets, and a few stray people and cars traveled quietly down the streets.

After circling around the town a few times, Jack slowly descended onto the tree in front of Jamie's house, frost coating the bark beneath his feet. With his back pressed against the trunk of the tree behind him, he slid down and stretched out comfortably on the thick tree branch below him. One hand securely held onto his staff that he had placed in his lap, and his other hand burrowed into his front hoodie pocket. All that was left to do was to take a long nap which was something that he hadn't been able to do in days due to his long travel from the North Pole to Burgess.

It was just his luck that he so exhausted that even sleep seemed like an impossible task at this point. Tiredly listening to his surroundings to distract himself, Jack's eyes began to close until only a sliver of icy blue remained visible. The gentle light of the moon helped him relax, feeling safe knowing that Man in the Moon was watching over him. Releasing one last deep breath, Jack closed the remaining gap between his eyelids.

However, his peaceful relaxation was soon overtaken by an intense feeling of unease. Groaning as he reopened his eyes, Jack sluggishly began to realize that something was horribly wrong. Dark storm clouds began to blot out the moon, and the world around him became bathed in darkness. Jumping to his feet and nearly slipping on his own ice, Jack's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the strange phenomenon.

Twirling his staff around in his hands, Jack took off into the sky and headed towards the clouds to see what he could do to fix it when a maniacal laughter distracted him. Freezing in his place in the air between the darkening sky and Jamie's house, Jack's decision was made unconsciously as he descended downwards as fast as he could. Landing hard on the windowsill, Jack's face flushed a light purple as he angrily watched a few remaining tendrils of unnatural shadows slinking the rest of the way into Jamie's room.

Carefully jumping down onto the polished wooden floor, Jack held his staff at the ready, the air surrounding him crackling with powerful cold energy. He tensed in surprise as a shadowy clawed appendage grabbed light onto his shoulder. Leaping away, the temperature in the room dropped dramatically as his staff and eyes started to glow blue warningly. Scanning the room for the shadowy creature that had grabbed him, Jack growled out. "Whoever you are, leave now before I make you."

"Why, that's a friendly greeting, Jack."

"Pitch," Jack whispered in disbelief as he looked around the room for the evil spirit.

"It's been a while, five years perhaps? Oh well, time is merely an illusion in the long run anyway."

"Why are you here? Get out of Jamie's room!" Jack yelled angrily, wishing that the evil spirit would just manifest himself already, that way he could at least have something to beat the crap out of.

"Tsk, tsk, I've been waiting too long for this moment, Jack. It seems like ages ago when we had our final showdown. That night when you... humiliated me, in front of my own fearlings! In front of everyone!" Pitch hissed, his demonic voice echoing around the room, having no real origin.

The window creaked from a sudden draft, and Jack nearly released the pent up energy he was keeping at bay at the fragile glass. Holding back at the last second and whipping around to check behind him only to find nothing, Jack asked him carefully. "So what's your point?"

"My point? My point is that I want to repay you for what you did to me." The clouds became darker outside and remaining light in the room began to fade away as the moon vanished completely in the sky. "I will make you suffer Jack. I'll crush your weak happiness by destroying the beings closest to you. You thought you knew what suffering was after being alone for hundreds of years; however, you were wrong, allow me to teach you the true definition of suffering."

The shepherd hooked staff began to glow blue again as Jack's eyes narrowed threateningly. "If you so much as harm Jamie-"

"I'm afraid you're too late, Jack."

Then just as suddenly as he appeared, Pitch's presence was gone. The ominous atmosphere in the room lifted instantly, but Jack was far from feeling safe and calm. He took one step towards the window, having every intention of going after the spirit, but a cry of pain stopped him dead in his tracks.

Whirling around, Jack's eyes widened in fear as he took in the sight of Jamie shaking in his bed due to a mixture of the horrifying nightmare he was caught in and the cold wind that swirled around the room. Raising the hand that wasn't holding his staff, Jack calmed the wind and felt it fade away with his anger. Right now Jamie was in trouble, he would deal with his problems first then go after Pitch.

Jumping up onto the bed and crouching beside his friend, Jack shook Jamie hoping to wake him, but the fearling that had replaced Sandy's golden dream sand snorted in annoyance at winter spirit, it's hold over the boy not shaken in the slightest. Resisting the urge to swat at it, Jack switched tactics and began yelling at Jamie instead. "Jamie? Jamie!? Come on Kiddo, it's time to wake up! Sleepy time's over!"

The Fearling seemed to laugh at Jack's efforts, it's short raspy breaths mocking his desperation to wake Jamie. Coating his hand in a thin sheet of ice the winter spirit slapped the horse made of black sand, already fed up with it. The fearling disappeared with a surprised whiny before re-materializing within a matter of a few seconds. All traces of amusement in the fearling had vanished, and it's crimson eyes were mere slits as it glared at Jack.

However, the fearling became the least of Jack's concerns as Jamie's arms escaped from under the covers and he began flailing them everywhere. Flinching back from the sudden onslaught, Jack tensed slightly before launching himself at Jamie and gripping both of his wrists on either side of his head, pinning them there. Jamie whimpered in response and started to kick his legs into Jack's stomach which startled Jack into loosening his hold. The chocolate haired boy unconsciously took advantage of Jack distraction, and in one quick motion he tore his arm free from Jack's hold and slapped him hard across the face.

"Ow," The snowy haired teen complained, wincing as he took ahold of either side of Jamie's head and released a bit of his icy energy out of his hands. Coffee colored eyes snapped open in alarm at the drastic temperature change, and the fearling who had been terrorizing Jamie vanished in an instant.

"G-Get away from me!" Jamie shrieked chucking a pillow at Jack who held out an arm to protect his already abused face.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you Jamie. You're safe now, Pitch's gone, you're safe." Jack hurriedly explained, praying that had gotten through to the frightened boy. Jamie trembled beneath him as he tried not to cry, refusing to meet Jack's worried gaze until finally he decided to see if he really was telling the truth.

"...J-Jack?" Coffee brown eyes were rimmed with fresh tears as he finally recognized his friend. Jack only got another second to breathe a sigh of relief when Jamie's arms wrapped around him in another crushing embrace. Wincing and attempting to break free, Jack felt like crying himself as Jamie applied more pressure to his hug right on top of his injury.

"Um... Jamie, could you-?"

"Please don't go Jack! Please don't go... Don't go." Jamie mumbled repeatedly into his navy hoodie.

"Okay, okay, I won't leave, but can you let go for a second? I can't breathe."

Nodding, Jamie released his arms from around Jack who quickly flung himself backward towards the end of the bed in order to catch his breath and allow the pain in his side ebb away.

"Pitch... He's back? Why? How?" Jamie choked out, still traumatized by his nightmare.

Shaking his head back and forth, Jack's hand tightened on his staff which glowed slightly in response. "I... I don't know. However, there's one thing I know for sure... he's after us." Glancing up to meet Jamie's terrified gaze, Jack's heart ached painfully as he whispered. "More specifically, I think he's after you."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews, story alerts, and favorites! I really appreciate it :) I'm really glad that so many of you are enjoying this story so far!**

**So here's a random story, I dragged my poor dad to go see ROTG with me on Wednesday, and of course he fell asleep during it while I squealed throughout the entire movie over Jack's cuteness. That was the best movie I have seen in the longest time! I left the theater smiling like an idiot because that movie had met all my expectations and more. Plus it also helped me come up with a ton of new plot ideas for this story.**

**So who do you think won the snowball fight? Jack or Jamie?**


	3. The Problem and the Solution

**Forever**

Chapter 3: The Problem and the Solution

* * *

Clenching and unclenching his fists, the snowy haired teen paced the bedroom with agitation flashing in his icy eyes. He came to a halt at the end of the bed and let out a frustrated sigh, his shoulders sagging as he stared off into a random corner of Jamie's bedroom. Running a hand through his snowy hair, he began mumbling to himself in a way that Jamie was used to before he began to pace again.

It had taken Jamie a while to get used to Jack talking to himself in the beginning, but now the boy was more than used to Jack's strange behaviors. In all honesty, Jamie was actually surprised at how normal Jack was after so many years of being ignored by everyone around him. Just the thought of being ignored for so long made Jamie sick to his stomach for the spirit because he knew that he would never be able to imagine the amount of pain Jack must have felt.

Groaning a bit as he shifted into a better position, Jamie glanced at the bright green neon clock on his nightstand that read 4:17 a.m. with a look of dull recognition. The throbbing pain of exhaustion pounded repeatedly against his skull as he struggled to stay awake. After the awful nightmares Pitch had given him, the boy had quickly decided that sleeping was not an option. The major sucky part about his decision was that he still had to go to school later since it was technically Friday morning.

The only thing that was keeping him up at this point was Jack's constant rambling, and the cold gusts of wind that chilled the entire room whenever the spirit became too emotionally distressed.

Wishing that he could calm his friend down who looked just about as tired as himself, Jamie tried to think of something but was quick to give up. His heavy eyelids slid shut, and a quiet whimper escaped past his lips as he tried to reopen them without success. Opening his mouth to ask Jack to do something to wake him up again, he found that even his mouth wouldn't cooperate. It felt like dry sandpaper, and a long yawn interrupted his train of thought as he attempted to form words.

Just as he was about to fall asleep lying on his belly, facing the end of the bed during his weak efforts to find a more comfortable position, a loud aggravated sound came from somewhere on the ground. Letting out a questioning noise that he hoped the other boy would hear, Jamie grudgingly cracked open one chocolate eye to stare downwards at the figure that was now sitting on the wooden floor.

Cerulean orbs flickered up to meet his weak gaze, and with a grimace Jack told him softly. "You know, I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon. I would catch some more shut eye if I were you."

Jamie breathed a muffled reply into the bed covers as he fought a losing battle with his exhausted body. "... Na... fa... lin... slee."

"Was that even English?" The winter spirit joked as he jumped to his feet to ruffle Jamie's hair before going over to sit beneath the window. The once chilling air that surrounded Jamie settled back into a warm comfortable temperature. Relaxing easily against his soft bed, Jamie thought sluggishly about how Jack promised to watch over him, and that no nightmares would ever scare him in the winter spirit's presence. In the mere seconds it took to close his heavy eyelids, Jamie was fast asleep.

However, Jamie still only managed to get about two hours of sleep before his alarm clock signaled with an awful shriek that it was time to wake up for school. Although, he probably should have warned Jack about it who was already on edge with Pitch's sudden reappearance before the winter spirit shattered the poor device to pieces a moment later.

* * *

"So for today's lesson we'll-"

The door creaked open with a high pitch screech as an exhausted boy stumbled into the classroom right as the bell rang. His bloodshot chocolate eyes glanced up somewhat apologetically at his English teacher who stared back at him with a mixture of concern and disappointment.

"Please take a seat Jamie, we were just about to go over chapter thirteen's notes," Mrs Summers told him after getting over the shock of seeing her student in such bad shape. Giving her a small nod, Jamie trudged over shakily to his seat, wishing with every part of his being that Pitch would suffer for putting him through this torture.

Unseen by anyone else in the classroom, Jack stealthy snuck in behind Jamie and perched in the windowsill by his desk as he examined the classroom with a faint interest. His face would light up whenever he recognized a few of the kids he had not seen in a while, but when they failed to notice him his excitement would quickly flicker out. Even one of Jamie's friend's that had helped him the night where he and the other guardians had defeated Pitch couldn't see him anymore.

Shifting a bit to get into a more comfortable position, Jack poked Jamie who had begun to doze off on his desk with the end of his staff. The boy weakly swatted back in the general direction he was in which made Jack roll his eyes and nudge him again with more force this time. "Come on, Kiddo. Look over there, you're going to miss those notes if you don't start writing them down."

Jamie blinked slowly back at him in response as he attempted to understand what his friend was saying, and after a while his hand began to close around his pencil and he sloppily copied down the notes. Grimacing at how bad Jamie looked, Jack found himself fighting down the burning anger that threatened to consume him. If his emotions got too out of control it would begin to snow, and he couldn't allow that to happen in the school.

Pitch would pay for tormenting Jamie eventually, but in the mean time Jack still needed to think of a way to contact the other guardians. There was no way he could leave Jamie alone and vulnerable for that long since Pitch said himself that he wished to harm the boy. Neither could he take Jamie to the North Pole because someone would notice his absence, and he wasn't even sure if his friend could survive the trip.

Still he needed to come up with something fast, he hadn't slept in two days and would need to rest soon, and Jamie was already suffering from only a few minutes of Pitch's nightmares. At this point, eventually Jack would need to rest which would give Pitch the perfect opportunity to strike.

Letting out a contemplating hum as he tried to figure out a decent plan, the winter spirit glanced back over to Jamie who had fallen unconscious yet again. The boy was using his arm as a makeshift pillow, but every once in a while he shivered which made Jack frown. Maybe guarding Jamie from this close up wasn't his best idea if the kid was going to end up sick from being in his presence too long.

Debating on whether or not he should go outside and watch over him from the other side of the room, he didn't even notice when the teacher had stopped her lecture to walk over and gently shake Jamie awake. Jack flinched back in surprise, and his icy eyes widened in shock as his entire view became obstructed by Jamie's English teacher's butt. Trying in vain not to look directly in front of him, Jack flattened himself against the frosted over window and looked up at the ceiling instead.

"Jamie, please try to stay awake."

"S-sorry Mrs Summers, it won't happen again" The boy stuttered out before he yawned into his sleeve and began catching up on notes again.

His teacher gave Jamie a long look before finally stepping away to walk back towards the front of the room much to Jack's relief.

Relaxing back into a comfortable slouch once more, Jack told Jamie apologetically, "Sorry, I should have woken you up again." Jamie sent him a look that told him that he wasn't upset with the spirit, yet it did little to calm Jack's worry and guilt that pooled within him as he carefully stayed attentive for the rest of the class period. He knew that it was partially his fault that Jamie was tired in the first place, so he figured it was the least he could do to make sure Jamie stayed awake during school that way he wouldn't get in trouble again.

The rest of the class passed by in a blur until at last there was only a few minutes left. With a soft click, Mrs Summers turned off the overhead projector and turned to face the crowd of bored faces that stared blankly back at her.

"So I've been thinking hard about what you guys could do for your final exam, and I came up with something that I think is going to be pretty fun. On the way out today, I want each of you to pick out a piece of paper from this jar," she paused to hold up the glass jar that was filled with many tiny folded up pieces of paper. "The one you pick will determine what time period of a certain place you will have research and write a paper on. However, you will also have to read the paper you type out in front of the class on the last week of school before winter break. So does anybody have questions?"

The bell rang just as she finished, and everyone hurriedly raced over to the front of the classroom to grab a piece of paper and run. Jack flew above the teacher's desk trying to read a few of the topics that Jamie's classmates had picked out, but apparently none of them were eager enough to open them up until later. Only one single folded up piece of paper remained, and after dragging himself forward to grab it, Jamie glanced up at Jack and headed towards the door to catch the bus.

Following him through the halls, Jack continued to look over Jamie's shoulder wondering what his research topic would be on. "So Jamie?" The boy looked back at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. "What topic did you get?"

Exiting the school, Jamie began to unfold the small white paper slip and slowly read out. "My research topic is..."

Landing in front of him and walking backwards, Jack gazed intently at the piece of paper in Jamie's hand. He was practically shaking in anticipation as Jamie frowned and read the rest of it out loud for Jack to hear.

"...Burgess, Pennsylvania in the 1700s." With a yawn, Jamie tucked the tiny piece of paper into the pocket of his jeans and continued onwards past Jack toward his bus. If it wasn't for the extreme lack of sleep, he would of noticed how Jack's jaw hung open in shock and how his icy eyes shined brightly with excitement. His staff sensed his sudden spike of happiness, and it glowed in response, sending out a cold draft of wind throughout the area.

"Hey Jamie, I think I can help you with-" The winter spirit began as he turned around to follow his friend just as Jamie slipped on a thin sheet of black ice. The poor boy ended up smacking his face into a nearby lamp post with a loud clank, and he fell sideways to the ground in a crumpled heap, letting out a pathetic groan of pain.

"...Whoops."

* * *

After a few unsuccessful tries to eat the slice of frozen pizza Jamie had warmed up in the microwave, he slumped back against the side of his bed and sighed. It was later in the afternoon, and the only people that were home were Sophie and himself. His parents were still at work and wouldn't be back for a few more hours.

Jack, who was sitting in the open window beside him, turned towards him and gave him a puzzled look. "Aren't you hungry? You didn't even eat lunch today."

"My tooth hurts too bad, I think I irritated it when I smacked into the lamp post earlier. I can't even close my teeth together anymore without it hurting me." His tongue carefully examined the source of his pain, and he winced as the slightest touch sent an uncomfortable burning sensation throughout his lower jaw.

The confusion on Jack's face began to turn into amusement as he teased. "You have a loose tooth at your age?"

"My baby molar came in late, so it's falling out later than my other baby teeth. The dentist said that it wouldn't be a problem though." Jamie explained to the winter spirit who fell silent, contemplating Jamie's answer.

"Why don't you just yank it out then?" Jack asked before his eyes widened with realization, and he jumped off the windowsill. "That's it! I know how we can contact the other guardians about Pitch's reappearance!"

Frowning in confusion Jamie began to ask, "We're going to contact the guardians?"

"If you pull your tooth out then one of Tooth's fairies are going to have to come and collect it. We can tell the fairy what's going on with Pitch, they'll tell Tooth who'll then tell the others, and our problem will be solved! Jamie, you're a genius!"

"Uh, okay?"

"Now, we need to figure out how to pull that tooth out."

The look that Jack was giving him made Jamie start to wonder if he had accidentally fallen into another one of Pitch's nightmares.

* * *

**A/N: ****I can't thank you guys enough for the amount of reviews, story alerts, and story favorites I received after uploading the last chapter! I rushed to get this chapter done in between doing massive amounts of college homework because I've never had a response like this before.**

**I wrote about half of this chapter when I was extremely sleep deprived, that way I would feel Jamie's pain... Then I had to go back and fix the crazy amount of mistakes I made during my half-awakeness. However, I'm so happy right now because it started snowing a bit where I live, and I just got a Jack Frost toy from McDonalds and have been staring happily at it as I finished the rest of this chapter. I got to see ROTG again with my best friend, and of course I smiled and squealed uncontrollably the whole time again :) The next chapter is going to be a bit more action packed, this basically is just a set up chapter for bigger things to come... **

**So how many times have you guys seen the ROTG movie? I've seen it twice and I'm hoping to see it a third time if I can...**


	4. The Chaos Before the Storm

**Forever**

Chapter 4: The Chaos Before the Storm

* * *

"Sorry Jack, I don't think I can do this."

"How come?" The winter spirit's head tilted to the side as he curiously watched Jamie rub the thin piece of violet string between the pads of his finger tips.

Jamie cringed as he refused to meet Jack's gaze, he didn't want to see the look of disappointment he was probably giving him now. "I-I've never pulled a tooth out before." The boy stammered out as he unsteadily got to his feet and backed away from Jack. However, what he didn't anticipate on was the winter spirit following him.

A cold hand reached out to grasp ahold of Jamie's shoulder, and the boy waited a few more seconds before glancing up shyly to meet Jack's gaze. "It won't hurt, I promise. I'll even numb your jaw for you if you want me to?" Jack's pale blue orbs had softened after noticing how nervous Jamie was about this, his previous excitement transforming into a calmer and more collective approach.

For a second, Jamie just stood there, unsure of how to respond back. He knew that their situation was serious if Jack was practically begging him to rip his tooth out, but just the thought of doing it was freaking Jamie out. A frown decorated his features as he debated on whether or not to chicken out, but Jack must have sensed his resolve fading once more and quickly intervened.

"You know, if the door idea doesn't sound good to you, I can always find another sofa to run you over with instead." Jack suggested with a slight smirk.

A small tentative smile formed on Jamie's lips, and with a shaky laugh he shook his head back and forth. "No thanks, I think I'll pass on that." He glanced back down at the string in his hands again, but this time his coffee colored eyes hardened with determination. "Alright, let's do this."

* * *

"Why is it so hard to tie a stupid string around a loose tooth!?" Jamie whined as the drooled over violet string slipped off his molar for the hundredth time. Jack shrugged his shoulders from his seat on the end of the bed and collapsed backwards with a groan, his arm swinging up to rest over his eyes. "Oh come on, I almost had it that time!"

Fifteen long minutes passed by before Jamie eventually moved to the bathroom. Jack never complained once about his random outbursts whenever he nearly had the string positioned just right or whenever the string fell out to his disappointment. Instead the winter spirit continued to nap contently on top of his bed, curled up in a ball around his staff. However, he still felt bad every time he forgot about his sleeping friend and shouted about something due to his increasing annoyance at the situation, so in the end he decided that it would benefit the both of them if he just moved to the bathroom. That way Jack could sleep in peace in his bedroom, and Jamie could use the large mirror in the bathroom to attempt to tie the string around his molar with more accuracy.

Checking his old smart phone for the time, his pulse rapidly sped up as he read the 5:36 p.m. on the screen. In nearly twenty minutes his parents would be arriving home, and although it normally wouldn't be a problem, it was Friday today. On Friday nights his family had a tradition of always having a movie night in the living room. There would be no time to pull his tooth out, and not to mention Jamie would rather rip his tooth out before they came home anyways. He had a feeling that since Jack would be involved there would be tons of chaos, and he would prefer not to have to explain anything out of the ordinary to his parents.

Tugging a bit harder on the slimy mess of string, Jamie winced as it finally wedged down the rest of the way, so now it was touching his gums. "Yes! Now I've just got to get the other side." His fingertips were red like cherries from the amount of abuse he had given them trying to force the string down, and they tingled painfully every time he used them to touch anything.

Taking a deep breath and concentrating on the mirror in front of him, he decided that he had had enough of this torture. Pressing his tongue lightly against the back of the tooth to steady it, he pressed downwards on the string with more power than he had dared to before. For a few tense seconds, he didn't so much as breathe as he concentrated on the wiggling tooth in the mirror before the string finally slid in between his teeth.

Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Jamie gasped to catch his breath before glancing back up at the mirror to grin at his reflection. He did it! Now all that was left was to wake up Jack and have him rip his tooth out for him. Tying a sloppy double knot, Jamie moved his head this way and that to examine his handiwork before scampering back to his bedroom. "Jack! Jack, I did it!"

The snowy haired teen didn't even so much as twitch at his sudden outburst, he was completely out cold and breathing slowly and evenly in the same position where he had been a while ago. Refusing to let Jack's unresponsiveness dampen his excitement, Jamie padded over across the room and tried to shake him awake. The winter spirit flinched in his sleep, and whimpered faintly which made Jamie wonder if he had just imagined the sound.

Releasing his grip from Jack's shoulder, Jamie gently began to poke Jack in the ribs, hoping that his friend was ticklish and that it would wake him up faster. However, what he got was a completely different reaction than what he was expecting. Pale blue eyes snapped open, and in less than a heartbeat Jack had disappeared off the bed.

Blinking in surprise, the chocolate haired boy scanned the room for his friend and found him crouching on his nightstand with both his hands gripping his staff that was pointed at Jamie in a death grip. His narrowed icy eyes were calculating as if he was deciding on whether or not Jamie was a threat to him.

Carefully taking note of Jack's odd behavior, Jamie slowly approached him while holding up the dry free end of violet string. "I finally got it tied, are you ready to numb my mouth then um... slam the door shut?"

An awkward silence fell upon them as realization dawned across Jack's face. "Oh yeah, yeah I'm ready. Sorry, I haven't gotten much sleep recently." Jack apologized as his whole frame relaxed again, the cornered animal look fading as he jumped down to walk over to the Jamie.

"Well, that makes two of us," Jamie commented as he studied the dark bruise like circles beneath Jack's eyes. "Geez, you look like you haven't slept in days! How didn't I notice that yesterday or today even?"

Focusing his attention on his staff, a fresh layer of frost began to form across the surface in elegant patterns while Jack frowned as he considered how to respond. "The fly back to Burgess from the North Pole was a bit harder than usual I suppose." His facial features darkened as he seemed to recall something before a smirk hid the negative emotion. "So, are you ready to pull that tooth out?"

A bit confused at why Jack was suddenly being so mysterious, Jamie decided not to let it get to him as he nodded his head, the nervous excitement from before returning. "This is going to be so awesome! I can't believe that I'm going to see the Tooth Fairy again!" A bright smile lit up the boy's face as it finally dawned on him that he would get to see the beautiful guardian once more.

"Actually Jamie, you're probably going to see all the guardians again, not just Tooth."

"They're all coming here!?"

"Yeah, now hold still, I don't want to accidentally mess this up."

Bending down a bit so that they were at eye level, Jack reached out to lightly press two fingers against the side of Jamie's mouth. Jamie cringed away from the chilling touch at first before realizing that the winter spirit was only trying to numb the area for him. Jack chuckled at Jamie's reaction, but a look of intense concentration soon erased most of the amusement on Jack's features. It made Jamie begin to wonder if Jack was having a hard time trying to keep himself from freezing his entire jaw.

"I-I think that's good enough," Jamie eventually stammered out, unable to feel any sort of sensation in his mouth. "C-can you tie this to the doorknob?" He held out the bottom part of the long string to Jack who was shaking his hand as if the warmth from Jamie's skin had made him lose sensation in his fingers. Holding his hand in front of his mouth, he blew a sparkling frosted mist at his hand and sighed in relief as it chilled his once warm skin.

"Sure, no problem," he finally told Jamie, grabbing the string to tie it securely to the door. The chocolate haired boy followed closely behind to keep some slack between the end of the string and where it was tied to his loose tooth.

Shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot, Jamie wrung his wrist with his opposite hand and felt his heart begin to race as he waited for the winter spirit to tie the string to the doorknob. "I-I don't know about this, Jack."

Jack opened the door which screeched slightly in response before turning back to face Jamie. "I promise, that this won't hurt one bit. It'll be like... ripping off a bandaid or something only without any pain at all." His pale blue eyes softened again upon seeing the frightened look in Jamie's coffee eyes which were widened with fear. "Hey, don't you trust me?"

Swallowing thickly before turning to face the winter spirit, Jamie truthfully told him. "Yes."

"Okay, then," Jack twirled his staff around in his hand before unexpectedly extending it towards Jamie to shove him back. Yelping as he took a few stumbling steps backwards, Jamie reached for his mouth and found to his somewhat relief and disappointment that his tooth hadn't been pulled out yet. With a grin, Jack set his staff down and leaned forward on it towards Jamie. "Now, what is you're favorite season?"

Jamie frowned at the strange question, but began to answer honestly anyways. "That's an easy one, wint- Sophie?"

Jack kicked the door back just as Jamie started to say 'winter,' but realization sparked within him as he registered what Jamie had said. Twirling himself around he quickly sent a wave of icy energy towards the bottom of the door, freezing in it's place a few inches away from the blonde's face. Concern replaced Jack's cocky look, and in an instant he was kneeling down by Jamie's little sister.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a slight panic to his once calm voice as he inspected the girl for any damage who nodded slowly in response. Sophie's beautiful emerald eyes were wide with disbelief as she stared at the guardian before her.

"Holy freaking! Ow, ow, ow, owww! My tooth didn't come out, the door didn't work!" Jamie cried out in pain and frustration.

"What!? Are you serious!?" Jack stood up and whirled around in disbelief, but as he did so the end of his staff whacked straight into the side of Jamie's head and the boy went tumbling ungracefully onto the floor. "...Whoops." Jack left Sophie in the doorway who was glancing back and forth between Jack and Jamie with a look somewhere between shock and amusement. Jack hurried to Jamie's side to help him off the ground, and lead him to his bed where Jamie sat down dizzily.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright, Kiddo?"

"I thin' tho," the boy mumbled out as if he had a mouth full of cotton balls before his coffee colored eyes widened comically at something on the ground. "Hey, Jack, my 'ooth!"

Following Jamie's gaze to the bloody little molar on the wooden floor, Jack let out a, "whoop," of triumph as he reached down to pick it up before leaping into the air to fly around the room in excited circles. "This is so awesome!"

"I bet it's going to feel awesome too when the numbness wears off..." Jamie grumbled as he cradled his swelling cheek with his hand.

* * *

There weren't too many things that made Jack nervous, but when Man in the Moon was threatened to get covered or blocked out, Jack felt an unexplainable anxiousness sweep through him. He felt safe and protected under the spirit's watchful gaze during the night, and now that a vicious looking storm cloud was beginning to place itself in front of the Moon, Jack was beginning to worry.

He had spent the rest of the afternoon attempting to send the storm away someplace else while Jamie ate dinner and watched a movie with his family, but it was persistent to continue forward on it's path over Burgess. Sighing in annoyance as thunder clapped loudly overhead, and lightning flashed across the night sky, Jack wished for nothing more than to see the moon's reassuring light.

Jamie had long since fallen asleep with an ice pack placed on top of his cheek after having such an exhausting day, but it was probably for the best since Tooth usually had her baby fairies only visit kids who were asleep. However, just the thought of one of those tiny fairies out in this weather only added to Jack's increasing worry. They probably had faced far worse than this thunderstorm, but with Pitch out and about doing who knows what, Jack hoped with all his might that nothing bad would happen to one of the little fairies.

If it wasn't for Pitch targeting Jamie, Jack would have already been scanning the area for the boogeyman. However, he was going to be stuck anchored to Jamie until help arrived which wasn't such a bad arrangement, but he couldn't wander around and spread mischief to his pleasure until this problem was solved. He was probably going to be a little behind schedule creating a good amount snow for winter, but he was willing to risk that if it meant Jamie would be safe.

A loud tap on the window caused Jack to scramble for his staff which he pointed warningly at whatever dared to enter Jamie's house. However, when a tiny familiar fairy squealed happily at him through the window, he instantly relaxed. Cracking the window open for the fairy, Baby Tooth was quick to cuddle up to his cheek in a flash, rubbing her wet feathers against his icy skin.

"Whoa, hi there Baby Tooth, long time no see." Jack greeted with a chuckle as the fairy landed on his shoulder and roughly shook off all the rain water that had soaked through her thick vibrant green feathers. Jack flinched and held up a hand to shield his face from the water, careful to keep his magic under control so that it wouldn't freeze on him.

Baby Tooth cooed happily after she ruffled her drier feathers, and after chirping quietly to Jack she flew over to Jamie's pillow to retrieve Jamie's last baby tooth, replacing it with a shiny coin before landing back on Jack's shoulder. However, she glanced suspiciously down at the molar before giving Jack a knowing look.

"So Baby Tooth here's the thing, I had to help Jamie lose that tooth because I have some urgent news. Can you send Tooth a message for me as fast as you can?"

Nodding vigorously at Jack's request, Baby Tooth's eyes hardened with determination as she readied herself for whatever Jack had to tell her.

The winter spirit frowned as he tried to think of the best way to describe both he and Jamie's current problem. "Pitch is back, and I need Tooth to gather up all the other guardians and have them meet me here at Jamie's house. They need to get here as soon as they can, I don't how much longer Pitch is going to wait before doing something, but I can still sense that he's in the area." Jack explained hurriedly while the tiny fairy squeaked in horror at the mention of Pitch's return.

Taking a few seconds to digest the awful news, Baby Tooth then nodded as if to say she would do what Jack requested of her. Then affectionately she bumped her soft head into Jack's neck before she took off like a rocket into the pitch black sky. She disappeared in less than a second as the darkness of the moonless night swallowed her whole. Gripping his shepherd staff harder as anxiety fluttered about in his stomach, exhaustion weighed down on Jack as he rested his head against the frost coated window and whispered pleadingly. "Hurry, Baby Tooth."

* * *

**A/N: Jeez I can't believe I'm almost at 50 reviews already, I'm so happy! Every time I get a review I have a mini freak out which I'm pretty sure weirds out the people around me, but oh well.**

**Sorry about the slight delay on this chapter, college was a pain in the butt this week and I have a presentation this coming Tuesday with my friend plus a ton of random tests and exams coming up, so I probably won't be uploading anything until Friday or Saturday. I actually wrote half of this chapter earlier this week in my mom's car while it was parked in a freezing cold parking lot for two hours, so it was an interesting and very cold experience. I also tried to make this chapter a bit longer than my previous ones to make up for the slight delay. Oh I also wasn't able to respond to as many reviews last chapter because of how busy I've been, I'll try to respond to everyone next time! But anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! :)**

**So do you guys think Baby Tooth is going to make it in time?**


	5. Into the Storm

**Forever**

Chapter 5: Into the Storm

* * *

_Warning: This chapter is a bit darker than the others, and the beginning might be confusing at first, but keep reading and it'll make sense eventually, I promise :) _

* * *

The sun was so huge and fiery that it lit up the entire sky overhead with a bright mixture of reds, yellows, and pinks. It was sometime in the afternoon, but to Jack's surprise it was snowing lightly, and a thick blanket of snow covered the forest floor. Even though he had never seen the sun shine so brightly before it didn't seem to radiate off any sort of uncomfortable heat.

Leaping to his feet effortlessly, Jack rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes, and squinted against the setting sun that shined through the tree tops. All around him were giant bushy trees that were achingly familiar to him until he realized that he was in the forest outside of Burgess. Jack couldn't remember how he got here though which slightly worried him as he set off walking in the direction of the lake, placing both his hands into his front hoodie pocket. It felt like he was forgetting something important, but he quickly shook the nagging feeling off as he reached the shoreline of his lake.

After all the memories he had with this place, Jack considered this place to be his, it was one place in the world where he felt grounded. This was the place he had died, and his old life had been taken from him. However, this was also the same place where he had been born into the life of being Jack Frost. For so many years, Jack didn't know whether or not to resent this place, or to be thankful for what Man in the Moon had given him so many years ago.

Jack stood there lost in his thoughts until he placed one bare foot onto the icy surface, and padded over to the center of the lake. He barely even acknowledged his surroundings at this point as the sun finally set and darkness encircled the area around him. There was no way for him to see anything past the shoreline at this point, but Jack didn't mind because the thin icy center of the lake held his attention. Shadows licked at his heels as he neared, his cerulean eyes studying the place cautiously. However, one of the shadows became impatient as he stopped a short distance away, and without any warning it grabbed onto the winter spirit's ankle and pulled so that Jack slipped forward onto the ice.

Letting out a yelp of panic, Jack tried to use his hands to stop his fall, but they were still entangled in the front pocket of his hoodie. He hit the ground with a painful smack, and barely even registered that he was mere inches from the dangerous thin ice. The winter spirit groaned as he sat up, rubbing his sore head with his pale hand, and he briefly wondered what had tripped him. His eyes widened in shock at the light purple bruise forming around his ankle, and when he lightly grazed it with his fingertips it flared with pain, causing him to wince.

"Jack?"

Blinking in surprise, Jack looked up from his newest discovery at the sound of the little girl's voice, but was confused when he didn't see anyone. Everything was quiet and the surrounding darkness swirled around the lake like thick smoke, so when the ice beneath him began to vibrate a few moments later, Jack flinched back and stared down at the thin area of the ice.

A few bubbles of air began to rise from somewhere below the lake and collect underneath the ice, and Jack's curiosity returned to him almost instantly. Finding the strength to move, he crawled over to the edge and leaned over to get a better look when something floated up with the bubbles and pressed up against the layer of ice from below. A scream of horror tore it's way out of Jack's lungs as he took in the gruesome sight of the corpse trapped below him in the lake.

It was his sister.

Her black soulless eyes stared unseeingly up towards the sky, and black spider like veins decorated nearly every inch of her visible ashen flesh. However, it was her decayed appearance that had Jack more horrified, pieces of flesh were missing from various places on her body. She wore the same clothing that he had last seen her in when Jack had watched his past life's memories, only now the fabric was torn and worn out.

Sorrow filled him to the core as he grieved over the scene below him, crystalline tears trickled down his cheeks and splattered against the clear ice. The agony burned him from the inside out, and it felt like he was dying all over again. "N-no, this... t-this isn't..." He choked out in disbelief, unable to accept the scene before him. "I'm.. s-so sorry." Even though he did not know this girl in his new life as Jack Frost, in his mind she was still his sister, and he had failed to protect her.

Jack didn't know how long he sat there in the center of the lake and cried, but eventually a gurgling noise distracted him from his self pity. Glancing back down towards the corpse, nothing happened for a few long seconds until his sister's head tilted slightly to the side as if to stare up at Jack. Unsure if he was just seeing things, or if it was just a current under the water that had moved her, Jack stilled as a demented smiled distorted her face.

Honestly, he didn't think this whole situation could get any more horrifying until her purple lips began to move and a scratchy feminine voice echoed around him. "Oh how I've missed you Jack. You look awful." The corpse shook as a chilling laugh sent a wave of fresh fear through Jack. "Always such a naughty boy, doing things that you shouldn't be doing."

"W-what are you talking about?"

The grotesque smile returned as his demonic looking sister returned her focus back to him. "You hand out promises of protection, but here you are, dreaming a most dreadful dream while Jamie rests, vulnerable, alone."

Anger shot through Jack like a bullet at the mention of Jamie's name. "Don't you dare harm him!"

"If you really wanted to protect him then you wouldn't have fallen asleep in the first place."

Furious, Jack slammed a fist into the ice above the corpse's face, but the demonic little girl wasn't fazed, and she smirked at the winter spirit's obvious distress. The crushing amount of guilt threatened to consume Jack as he lashed out at his deceased sister because now there were two people that he had failed to protect. However, as soon as he stopped punching the ice the corpse's black soulless eyes began to bleed to gold. Everything made sense then as Jack gazed straight into the familiar piercing eyes of the boogeyman.

"I wish you could see your face right now, so full of sorrow, confusion, and delicious fear." Pitch chuckled his golden orbs glinting with amusement at Jack's distress before they narrowed slightly as he put on a more serious expression. "Come find me if you want the boy back." The corpse like version of Jack's sister pushed off the ice and sank downwards towards the murky bottom of the lake.

"Pitch!"

A loud bang startled Jack awake as he was forced back into reality, the window was open and the thunder storm outside raged on with even more intensity than before. Nervously, Jack jumped down from the windowsill and snatched up his staff that he had placed against the wall, thankful for it's reassuring presence. A fresh layer of frost crept across it's wooden surface as Jack swung it over his shoulder out of habit.

Glancing tiredly over the room, Jack noticed nothing out of the ordinary until his pale blue eyes settled upon the empty bed. The snowy haired teen stilled as panic overtook him, and all rational thoughts fled from his mind. Jamie was gone, and after the nightmare he had just had, Jack's immediate thoughts turned to the nightmare king. His grip on his staff increased tenfold as he leapt back up onto the windowsill before lunging out into the open air where the wind caught him.

A mixture of anger, fear, and anxiety pooled within him as he flew towards the one place he knew where to find the boogeyman. The winter spirit knew that he was an idiot for falling asleep, and that Jamie could very well pay the price for his careless mistake. With this in mind, Jack kicked his legs out and urged the wind to carry him even faster across the town of Burgess towards his destination.

* * *

All was silent in Jamie's house until the sound of the toilet flushing and a tired yawn filled the empty silence. The boy stumbled ungracefully back to his bedroom down the hall, and slowly made his way back into bed. The side of his mouth where his loose molar had once resided was now swollen purple, and it hurt to open his mouth. He made a mental note to put an ice pack on it tomorrow during breakfast as he carefully snuggled underneath the warm blankets.

Rolling over onto his side, Jamie frowned as his hand that he had tucked under his pillow nudged a cold unfamiliar piece of metal. His foggy mind tried to make sense of this strange object as he pulled it out from underneath the pillow. He smiled a few seconds later as his heavy-lidded coffee eyes gazed at the shiny coin the Tooth Fairy must have left him.

"...Hey Jack, guess what? The Tooth Fairy came." Jamie announced groggily before glancing up towards where his friend had been relaxing a few minutes ago. A worried frown appeared on his face though after noticing his friend's mysterious absence. "Jack?"

It took a bit of effort to get his exhausted body to move, but eventually he was up and searching his room for the winter spirit. He even resorted to sticking his head out his open window and into the downpour that was still occurring outside. However, there was no signs of Jack anywhere which began to make Jamie feel uneasy.

Sitting back down on his bed, Jamie fiddled with the coin in his hands as he worriedly stared out the window. It didn't make sense for Jack to leave him unless it was an emergency because Pitch was still in the area. As he pondered this, no matter how hard he tried convince himself otherwise, Jamie couldn't shake the awful feeling of dread that something bad was about to happen.

* * *

The sky continued to mourn as Jack soared above the forest, he was completely soaked, but that was the least of his worries at the moment as he landed gracefully on the frozen surface of the lake. Lightning lit the empty forest around him, but Jack knew that the nightmare king was near. It made sense for Pitch to be here after the nightmare king had dragged him into that twisted version of his memory. All of his senses were on high alert as he waited several minutes for something to happen his anger growing at each passing second.

"Come on Pitch, where are you?" Jack growled out.

"Here."

Turning on his heel, the winter spirit yelled in fury as he sent a wave of icy energy flying behind him. A thick layer of frost coated the trees near the shoreline of the lake where the boogeyman should have been. "Enough tricks, give Jamie back!" Jack demanded furiously his hands clenching down hard on his staff that whined in response as he scanned the empty area around him.

"You see I would, but how could I give something back that I didn't have possession of in the first place?" The dark voice chuckled from below which startled Jack as he locked gazes with piercing golden orbs as Pitch manifested his face out of Jack's own shadow.

Taking his staff and bringing it down onto the lake, a wave of cold spread out from the bottom of the staff and crackled as the top surface of the lake became covered with fern like spirals of frost. Pitch was gone before the frost could touch him, his face fading back into Jack's shadow. "You're lying!"

"I had no idea one little nightmare would rile you up so badly," Pitch commented from somewhere above Jack before the nightmare king chuckled behind him. "You know, I could end this right here and now, but it's your intoxicating fear that makes me want to drag this out. I'm not as impulsive as you Jack, and I'm planning on such wonderful things to come."

Turning slowly to face Pitch, Jack held his staff out warningly, but this time he didn't attack the him. Breathing heavily as the rain pelted down on the two spirits, Jack finally spoke. "So Jamie's home, and you lured me out here. Why?"

Cackling in amusement at Jack's question, Pitch smirked as he replied. "Well I came to the conclusion after finding a lost baby fairy that you've been trying to contact the others, and I can't have that happen." Nightmare sand whipped around Pitch as he glared at the winter spirit, all the wild life in the forest fell silent as if sensing the darkening atmosphere.

"What did you do to Baby Tooth!?" The snowy haired teen demanded as his staff glowed blue and the wet ground around him began to freeze.

"Let's just say that she's out of the picture for now," Pitch replied obscurely, a glint of pleasure sparking in his eyes as Jack growled in frustration. However, he didn't plan on Jack lashing out, a powerful icy blast shot out from the end of his staff and knocked Pitch right off his feet. The nightmare king was sent flying and he landed in a snowbank on the other side of the lake.

"You will let her go," The winter spirit threatened darkly, the wind picking up in response to his emotional turmoil. Snow flurries whipped across the lake as the winter spirit stalked forward towards his prey that scrambled to stand up on the slippery ground. It was one thing if Pitch was threatening him directly, but it infuriated Jack that the evil spirit was targeting others in order to get to him. Jack was beyond pissed off, and before tonight was over he would make sure that Pitch got it in his head to never go near his loved ones again if he valued his immortal life.

"Well, that was rude," Pitch grumbled as he swiped snow off himself before turning towards Jack with glare that rivaled the winter spirit's. "Fine then, if you wish to fight that badly then so be it."

With a snap of his fingers, Pitch summoned a large group of nightmares that crept out of the forest like ghosts. The huge stallions gathered silently around Pitch, their creepy glowing eyes watching the winter spirit as he stopped in his tracks. Jack refused to let the uncertainty he felt show on his face as he observed the sight before him, but a tiny flash of green caught his attention. Inside the fearling that stood to the right of Pitch was Baby Tooth who chirped happily at the sight of Jack.

The brief moment of hope Jack felt quickly flickered out though as Pitch raised his hand to point at him and he snarled out. "Get him."

The fearlings shrieked as they charged forward, their hooves impacting the ground with such force that it drowned out the thunder rumbling above. Time slowed down as Jack readied himself for impact, and gave Baby Tooth what he hoped was a reassuring look. Then with one last shaky breath, Jack prayed to Man in the Moon that he would make it out of this encounter with Pitch alive as the first fearling reached him.

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**A/N: I can't believe that I got so many reviews for the last chapter, I was freaking out all week trying to get this chapter finished for everyone in time. Thank you guys so much for everything, especially the reviews they make me so happy :)**

**Well I didn't mean for this chapter to be so dark, creepy, and depressing, but I guess it just turned out that way. Wow this week was busy, but at least I managed to convince my mom to go see ROTG with me. Lol my poor parents probably hate me now for having me drag them both to go see it, but at least my mom stayed awake and even enjoyed some parts unlike my dad who slept during most of the movie. Oh yeah, next week is my last week of college before winter break, so expect another late update unless I type some more out this weekend.**

**So what do you think's going to happen to Jack?**


	6. A Combination of Good and Bad Timing

**Forever**

Chapter 6: A Combination of Good and Bad Timing

* * *

The moon faintly shined through the remaining clouds from the storm. It had finally left, leaving a dampened world beneath it which helped Jack a great deal throughout the course of the hour as the battle raged on. Although every fiber of his being was screaming at him to flee, his determination fought for dominance against his body's natural instincts. He was a guardian now, and he would never allow one of his loved ones to be injured in his presence.

One by one he took down the fearlings, but for every one he destroyed another would soon take it's place if he didn't freeze the remains well enough. He only caught glimpses of Pitch since he was working behind the scenes to bring the winter spirit down. The only good thing for Jack at this moment was that he had been resting the entire previous day, so he had a bunch of unused power stored up inside of him. However, his previously injured body was becoming a hinderance every time he needed to make a quick maneuver during the fight.

There was only really two things about this fight that were really difficult at this point, his injury, and keeping tabs on the dark stallion that had Baby Tooth contained within it. If he made one careless mistake and destroyed the fearling with a powerful enough blast of energy, he could seriously injure his little friend, and Jack would never be able to forgive himself if that happened.

"Getting tired, Jack?" Pitch asked with a large toothy grin as he smoothly glided through the shadows of the forest to hide behind another tree as Jack sent a frustrated wave of icy energy his way. "Oh good, I'm pleased to see you still have some fight left in you."

"Shut up!" Jack growled not bothering to come up with a better retort as he side-stepped another stallion that tried to barrel into him. He nearly brought down his staff to end it's existence when he hesitated, and opted to fly upwards instead. Pitch's random question had caused his focus to become fuzzy, and now Jack wasn't sure where Baby Tooth was anymore.

The fearlings below snorted in annoyance as their target fled, and leapt into the air after the winter spirit. It was hard for Jack to pinpoint the green little fairy, but just in time he noticed her shimmering feathers in the belly of the stallion near the back of the herd. With a grin, Jack rushed the fearlings who paused in uncertainty at his unexpected move, and with perfect accuracy the winter spirit weaved between them and even frosted some unlucky ones along the way.

"Hold on, Baby Tooth!" Jack called as he neared the lone fearling whose haunting eyes narrowed at his approach. The tiny fairy squeaked in alarm at Jack's sudden advance, and fluttered around anxiously inside the beast she was trapped inside of. She was so worried that Jack was going to get himself hurt in his attempts to rescue her.

From the corner of his vision, Jack could see Pitch prepare to shoot him with a sharpened nightmare sand arrow, and after a quick dodge to the left which sent an uncomfortable amount of pain shooting throughout his side, Jack finally made it to the fearling. Without another thought, Jack zoomed by it and hooked the end of his staff around the stallion's neck, and threw it to the ground with a yell. The fearling neighed in surprise as it impacted the ground, but it wasn't not nearly enough force to injure either it nor Baby Tooth.

"Let her go, or I'll end you." The winter spirit threatened as his staff sparked off deadly blue icy energy.

The fearling shook it's head as it stood back up, it's ears flattened unhappily against the back of it's head then without warning it charged Jack. The winter spirit twisted up into the air, and gritted his teeth as his side flared painfully once again as he reached forward with his staff to freeze the stallion beneath him. It froze instantly and continued forward due to it's momentum, and shattered against the ground a few meters away.

"Baby Tooth!" Jack gasped as he sprinted over to the remains of the fearling, but to his relief a feathery head popped up out of the remaining nightmare sand and frost and gave a high pitched sneeze. With a shaky relieved laugh, Jack scooped the tiny fairy up. "Please tell me you're alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Baby Tooth shook her head back and forth to signify that he in fact did not harm her in any way, but quickly let out a squeak of alarm and motioned behind Jack. Reacting instantly, Jack shoved Baby Tooth inside the front pocket of his hoodie as gently as he could before grabbing his discarded staff and whirled around to face his attackers.

"You never cease to amaze me." Pitch announced, sounding like he wasn't exactly all to thrilled with Jack's most recent stunt against his fearlings. "So you have your little pest back, so what. You're still trapped like a rat in a cage. How exactly do you think you're going to get out of this situation?"

The rest of the fearlings surrounded Jack and boxed him in, but a few shifted to the side as Pitch entered the tense circle, his golden eyes flashing with anticipated victory. Warily, Jack circled around as he kept a watchful eye on the dark horses around him, every part of his being was wound up and ready to spring into action at a moments notice.

"I'm not afraid of you," Jack repeated, remembering how he had spoken those same words so many years ago.

"But you do fear though for your little fairy. How exactly do you plan to protect her, Jack? You'll be much too busy fighting my nightmares to even think about keeping the little pest safe." The Nightmare King predicted with a laugh as he casually walked around the out edges of the circle, close to his fearlings.

Keeping his gaze locked with Pitch while watching the dark stallions in the corners of his vision, Jack lightly pet the shivering fairy he loosely held in his pocket. "You're going to be okay, Baby Tooth. I promise that you're going to make it out of this." Baby Tooth nuzzled against Jack's chilling hand as if to say that she trusted him, and that only made the winter spirit's resolve strengthen even more.

"Like I said before Jack, you make too many promises you just can't keep." Pitch growled as he snapped his fingers which signaled to the fearlings to attack once more.

"Wind!" Jack cried out just as his faithful old friend snatched him up and away from the chaos. However, before he completely left the ground, Jack made sure to refreeze the surface of the lake so that all the hooves of the fearlings were stuck to the lake's frozen surface while Pitch faded away and fled back to the safety of the forest. The nightmares screeched in rage and shock as they struggled to free themselves, but Jack had more important matters than to take enjoyment in their suffering.

Pulling out Baby Tooth from his pocket as he gained altitude, he asked. "Can you fly?"

The little fairy nodded as she tried to soothe her ruffled feathers, and gave Jack a curious look in return.

"Okay, do you remember what I told you earlier tonight?" Baby Tooth gave another nod. "Good, I need you to hurry and deliver that message. I'll distract Pitch while you go get the others."

Baby Tooth let out a whine of concern as she glanced back down at the mass of shadowy creatures that shrieked in fury. Her beautiful violet eyes began to shimmer as fresh tears built up at the thought of leaving Jack.

"D-don't cry, it'll be alright, I promise! Just... just think of this as a game. If you can find one of the guardians in time then we win, and if not then we lose." Jack panicked as the fairy began to cry and winced slightly at his randomly made up game that sounded worse than what he envisioned in his head.

The tiny fairy's worried look only deepened as he explained the game, but Baby Tooth was smart and knew that she was Jack's last hope at this point. Jack was anchored to Burgess until he could be sure that Pitch wouldn't harm Jamie, and she was the only one who could leave to get help. So after giving her crumbled wings a shake to straighten them out again, Baby Tooth flew over to Jack's cheek and affectionately rubbed her own cheek against his before flying off towards the Tooth Palace.

Jack watched her to make sure that she would safely make it out of Burgess this time before glancing back down at the ground. The lack of fearlings frozen to the lake stunned him, and without any other warning one of the stallions barreled into him, knocking his staff out of his hands.

The wind feebly attempted to slow down his descent, but it was useless as Jack continued to gain speed as he fell. His staff was just within reach, and he struggled in vain to grab onto the source of his power to save himself. His fingertips just grazed it's wooden surface, and it frosted at his slight touch before it melted off again as the staff twisted away. Jack's eyes were wide with panic as his arms flailed to reach the staff again while the ground rushed up to meet him.

With an awful smack, Jack impacted into the lake and fell through the thick layer of ice, his staff following him into the chilling water. All at once his panic heightened to an unimaginable level, Jack began to hyperventilate as he was immersed with cold and darkness. Memories of drowning resurfaced, the desperate feeling of needing oxygen, and getting nothing but suffocating water instead.

This time he doubted Man in the Moon would be able to help him, Jack didn't even know if the moon could even see what was happening through the thick layer of clouds. What was going to happen if he remained stuck down here? Could he even drown since he was immortal? The thought of staying under the water for any length of time sent another spike of fear into him.

A sharp whine cut through his panicked thoughts, and instantly Jack felt a small wave of hope pass through him as his staff floated down from above him. Slowly, Jack reached through the water to take ahold of it, and with a surge of power he burst through the hole he had made in the lake and gasped for air as he scrambled to get a hold on the surrounding ice.

For only a few precious seconds Jack was able to catch his breath before someone grabbed onto his hair and yanked him upwards so that his feet were dangling in the air. He let out a scream of pain, unable to hold back as the intense sensation sent black dots across his vision. Jack even forgot to breathe for a moment as he tried to understand what was happening to him.

"You look even worse than in your nightmare from earlier," Pitch commented as Jack finally gained enough sense to use his free hand to attempt to pry away his captor's fingers. "But I think we could do better, don't you?"

Jack screamed in response, as pain coursed through him, his throat was already beginning to ache as scream after scream tore out of his lungs.

"I'll take that as a yes," Pitch told the winter spirit with a smirk as he tossed him on his back across the ice. Jack flinched upon contact with the lake's frozen surface, expecting to be flung back into the water again, but his icy eyes flickered this way and that as realized that he was still thankfully on the ice. However, as Jack got back to his senses, he briefly noted that his staff had slid out of reach and was resting near the shoreline.

Breathing heavily as he tried to make up for his previous lack of oxygen, Jack felt weighted down from his experience in the lake, the exhaustion from lack of sleep, and his sore muscles that ached constantly from fighting for at least an hour or two. His pale eyes wearily took in the sight of Pitch forming another arrow as a few fearlings landed back in another loose circle around them.

"That fairy was not supposed to escape, but no worries, my fearlings will get the pest back for me. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful nightmare." Pitch said with a grin as he pulled back on the arrow and released it.

Jack tried to get his body to move out of the way in time, but it was impossible. He was just too tired, and to his horror, Jack could only lay there defenseless as the arrow shot through the air towards him. Time slowed down as Jack desperately fought against his tired body, willing it to do something productive other than just lie there. If he were to be defeated here, what would happen to Jamie? Would Pitch be satisfied with just taking him down, and flaunt about it to the guardians, or would he continue to pursue Jamie? Jack knew that if he wasn't there then Jamie was going to be in trouble, and he couldn't have that happen.

A golden wisp of sand wrapped around the arrow and yanked it out of the way in less than a heartbeat, saving Jack just in time. Remaining as still as a corpse, Jack could only blink in response to the miracle that had unfolded before his eyes.

"Sanderson," Pitch acknowledged with a an unhappy snarl.

Sandy floated down on his brightly glowing dream sand cloud with both his whips at the ready in his hands. With a quick glance in Jack's direction, the dream guardian created the image of a baby tooth fairy above his head before turning to engage in the battle with Pitch.

Jack couldn't help but grin. "We won, Baby Tooth."

* * *

Flipping to the last page of his magical creatures book, Jamie glanced over it before throwing it down with the others he had piled up on his bed. His worry over Jack's sudden disappearance was weighing down heavily on his mind, and he couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried. So in the end he had resorted to reading late into the night, hoping that the winter guardian would return soon so he could go to bed without having to worry about having another nightmare.

Covering his mouth as he yawned and leaned back against the pillows he had propped up behind him, Jamie glanced back towards the window and sighed. He just wished Jack could have left him a message of sorts to explain where he gone in the middle of the night.

Turning to look at the smashed pile that used to be his alarm clock, Jamie let out a quiet laugh as he remembered Jack's tiny freak out from earlier. He roughly guessed that it was around 3:00 a.m. in the morning, and with a low groan he plucked up another book he had read a million times just as a loud bang sounded from outside.

Frowning, Jamie went to go investigate, but was unable to see anything until something ran through his yard releasing a loud shriek as it passed. Coffee eyes widened in fear as he recognized the creature as a fearling. However, unlike last time, Jack wasn't there to protect him from the beast that sniffed the air before setting it's haunting gaze upon Jamie's window.

* * *

**A/N: I'm in shock that I'm almost at 100 reviews... Just holy cow... Thank you all so much! (I'll try to reply to everyone's reviews tomorrow if I get time, and I'm not too busy studying)**

**Well this battle scene got a little out of hand... It was only supposed to be a small portion of this chapter, so I guess my favorite part of this scene is going to have to wait until next time. I really can't wait to get back into the humor part of this story, but alas the plot must come first. I'm going to be busy all week with my last week of college like I've mentioned before, and I probably should be studying for the five big tests that I have this week, but I couldn't wait any longer. This scene practically begged me all weekend to type it out, and all the reviews I got were really encouraging... So yeah, now I'm going to go study like a good college student at 11:30 p.m. **

**So what do you guys think is going to happen to Jamie?**


	7. Guardian Duties Before Sleep

**Forever**

Chapter 7: Guardian Duties Before Sleep

* * *

Stumbling away from the window, Jamie let out a strangled cry as he ran into the side of his bed and fell to the wooden floor. Wincing at the minor aches and pains from the fall, the boy quickly scrambled to his feet and fled out the door. With Jack gone, Jamie was going to have to take action whether he wanted to or not, even if that meant running for his life in the middle of the night.

As lightly as he could, Jamie padded past Sophie's and his parents bedrooms, praying that they would not wake up. However, as soon as he reached the stairs, Jamie could already hear the distinctive sound of sand pour onto the floor in his bedroom. The fearling had managed to slide between the cracks of the shut window, and was now hot on his trail.

Speeding up his pace, Jamie nearly fell down the stairs as his feet struggled to find a purchase on the narrow steps. He made his way into the kitchen trying in vain to ignore the slithering noise of sand pouring down the steps after him. Dilated coffee eyes flickered to the garage and the front door, and dread pooled within him because Jamie knew that he had accidentally just passed by his only escape route. All he had left was the garage, but that would make way too much noise if he opened it up.

He knew instinctively that if his parents got involved that they would not be able to see the dark stallion, and would probably think he was insane. They tolerated his childhood fantasies to an extent, but if they saw him getting attacked by an unknown entity then that would be crossing the line for them. The last thing Jamie wanted was for his parents to think he was crazy.

However, his reason for not waking Sophie up was an entirely different matter. Jamie didn't want the fearling to go after his baby sister, so he was going to sacrifice his own safety in order to keep her safe. If he could just lure the fearling out of the house, and make a run for it then Sophie would be safe. His only hope was that Jack would be able to find him in time before anything bad happened to him.

Still that meant that he was going to have to sneak back around the fearling if he had any chance of getting out of the house.

"Okay, okay, okay, everything's going to be fine. I just need to find a weapon." Jamie whispered to himself as he tried to keep calm and focus on getting out of the house.

Wheeling around to search the cupboards for any sort of makeshift weapon, Jamie grabbed a handful of plastic knifes and a frying pan. On any normal occasion Jamie would have probably picked something a bit more deadly, but it was still pitch dark in the house. So when he held his newest weapons under the dim moonlight, the boy sighed and hoped for the best as the dark horse began to reform down the hallway leading to where he was standing.

With a gulp Jamie carefully set the frying pan down on the island counter in front of him, and began to pick up a couple of the plastic knifes in his free hand. The fearling snorted and pawed at the tiled floor below it as it got ready to charge him. Hypnotized by the creepy crimson gaze, Jamie found that he couldn't break eye contact with it until it released a shrill shriek and bolted towards him.

Flinching at the loud noise, Jamie snapped out of his trance and began chucking as many plastic utensils as he could at the horse as it approached. They didn't do so much as make the fearling pause as the stallion neared, and with a last ditch plan Jamie grabbed the frying pan and swung it around just as the fearling leapt over the island counter top in front of him. With a clang the frying pan connected with the horse's head and it let out a cry of pain.

Leaping out of the way as the fearling crashed into the cupboards behind him, Jamie made a run for the front door, but the fearling recovered quicker than he thought it would. The dark horse was back on it's hooves in a heartbeat and was once again in pursuit of the terrified young teenager.

Jamie nearly smack into the front door before he began to fumble with the lock system. The stupid device was jammed again much to his horror as he tried desperately to twist the knob to the left. "Crap, come on you stupid thing," Jamie growled in frustration as he heard the hooves of the fearling clomp over to him. It clinked over and over again as Jamie struggled to unlock it, his hands were beginning to sweat as panic overtook him.

Harsh breathing sounded over his shoulder which was Jamie's only warning before the stallion bit into his green pajama shirt and tossed him backwards onto the floor. The impact with the tile floor knocked the wind out of the boy which managed to distract him from the burning sensation in shoulder blade area for a few seconds before he noticed it. Apparently the shirt hadn't been the only thing the horse had bit into before it threw him over it's shoulder.

Cringing as he sat up and softly rubbed his new wound, Jamie gasped at the sight of haunting crimson orbs that were inches away from his face. Instantly the boy began to back peddle towards the kitchen, forgetting to bring the frying pan with him. With the horse hovering over him, Jamie felt his mouth go dry and every part of him began to quiver with fear. The fearling seemed to sense this, and it's ears perked up happily in response while it's black sand mane flowed out more steadily than before. It was as if the fearling was feeding off of Jamie's new found fear for the dark creature.

Whimpering as his back made contact with the island countertop in the center of the kitchen, Jamie trembled as the fearling leaned forward to sniff him. It made a few grumbling noises of what sounded like approval while Jamie tried to resist the urge to shove it's creepy face away. However, it was this train of thought that gave Jamie a new idea. A few years ago on the night Jamie first met Jack and stood up against Pitch all he had to do was simply touch the menacing fearlings and they would turn into the Sandman's dream sand. So if he were to touch the beast before him, wouldn't he get similar results?

Hesitantly, Jamie brought a hand up to touch the leg of the fearling, fascinated by it's rough grainy texture. The dark horse snorted angrily at Jamie's sudden boldness, and to the boy's disappointment the sand made creature remained black. The dark horse's ears flattened against the back of it's head, and with a hard yank, it pulled it's leg free from Jamie's grasp.

Unsure of what to do now, Jamie quietly yelped in surprise as it roughly shoved him over and bit into the back of his shirt. This time it thankfully only managed to bite into the fabric of his shirt, but Jamie's short relief soon died as it began to gallop towards his bedroom once more with the young teenager dangling from it's mouth. As uncomfortable as it was, Jamie still struggled against the creature's strong hold on him, and his limbs twisted and flailed in every direction in an attempt to free himself.

As it approached his window, Jamie faintly wondered how it was planning to break out of here with him in tow, but his question was soon answered as it charged into the window and it flew open from the harsh impact. Jamie cringed as he smacked into the glass before letting out a cry of shock as the two fell into his front lawn before leaping over the fence and into the dimly lit street.

The fearling set him down just long enough so that it could get a better hold of the fabric while Jamie tried to crawl away, but it quickly held him down with it's hoof. Even though Jamie knew the dark horse was keeping most of it's weight in check, the boy found himself fighting to suck in some precious oxygen. He could just barely get enough into his lungs, and with a wince he realized that his face was starting to get scraped up from the asphalt. If he ever got out of this mess, Jamie knew that he was going to be lecturing a certain winter spirit whenever he got back from ditching him when he needed him the most.

In one last ditch effort, Jamie kicked back against the chest of the stallion, but he failed to see the flicker of pure annoyance as it's crimson gaze narrowed and it reared back on it's hind legs. The horse lifted Jamie high into the air before letting him drop a painful fifteen feet to the ground. Releasing a cry of alarm, Jamie reflexively protected his face with his arms as he plummeted through the chilling air like a brick.

* * *

"This fight is between Jack and I, Sanderson. There's no need for you to get caught up in this mess." Pitch attempted to persuade the dream spirit, but Sandy's gaze hardened as he stared down the Nightmare King. It was obvious that the guardian of dreams would not be leaving Jack anytime soon, and his resolve on the matter strengthened even more upon noticing that the winter spirit was injured.

With his golden dream sand, Sandy created an arrow pointing to Pitch above his head before transforming it with ease into two hands. One of the hands became a fist and began to punch into the palm of the other while Sandy prepared to fling one of the whips in his hands.

"What is it with you guardians wanting to fight? Eventually you will all fall before me, and succumb to the power of fear. There's is nothing you can do to stop me, my plan is already in motion as we speak." Pitch taunted as he backed away from the two guardians, his black nightmare sand collecting near his hands.

"You obvious don't have a good memory then," Jack weakly rasped from where he lay on the ice. "Sandy can easily kick your butt any day. I would try not to get on his bad side right now if I were you."

The Sandman nodded in agreement at Jack's warning, but the look on his face suggested that Pitch was already too late if he didn't want to get on his bad side. One of the whips were flung forward, and with a high pitched whistle it sliced through the air and latched painfully onto Pitch's ankle. Then with a skilled flick of the wrist, Pitch was sent sailing through the air a couple times before Sandy finally released him and the Nightmare King landed in a pitiful heap on the opposite shore of the lake.

Pitch's golden eyes flashed as he growled something beneath his breath as he got to his hands and knees. As much as it hurt his pride to accept, Pitch knew that the Sandman was at an obvious advantage at the moment. It was clear to him now that there would be no winning against his rival tonight even though he so badly wanted to crush the two guardians. The pleasure of taking Jack Frost down was already beginning to fade though as this realization occurred to him. It would be best now if he were to simply disappear for now, and come back later when he had recovered more of his strength back. Besides he knew that this night wouldn't be a complete waste if his subordinate had completed the task he had assigned to it earlier.

"You think you've won!?" Pitch hissed as he got to his feet, brushing the mud off his sleeve with disgust plastered on his ashen features. "Fear always wins in the end because no matter how hard you guardians try to vanquish it, it'll always be here!" The Nightmare King panted before his lips curled up into a knowing grin. "You think you've won Jack, now that Sanderson is here. Now that all the other guardians are being warned of my return. I'm happy to disappoint you, that this my dear guardian is just the beginning of the end."

In an instant Pitch vanished into the darkness of the forest, his laughter cackling around the area until it faded away. The rest of the fearlings that had been watching from the sidelines the entire time glanced at the remaining guardians before taking off in separate directions into the forest like ghostly spirits. It was only when the dark atmosphere around the lake disappeared completely did Sandy finally relax and allow his whips to reform into the sand cloud he had been riding on before coming to Jack's aid.

The dream guardian finally turned to face the injured guardian, and carefully padded across the slippery ice to get to his side. The Sandman carefully looked over the winter spirit for any major injuries and was thankful to not see any, but the pain swirling within Jack's cerulean eyes did not escape Sandy's notice.

Sandy helped Jack sit up painstakingly slow, and watched in concern as the winter spirit gasped and wrapped his arms around his midsection as pain shot across his face for a brief second. With his eyes squeezed tightly shut, Jack tried to reassure Sandy that he had nothing to worry about though. "... D-don't worry... I t-think it's just a..." He cut off with a groan as Sandy lightly placed his hand upon Jack's arm to help him up further. However, at Jack's pained sound, Sandy cringed and quickly tore his hand back, afraid that he had accidentally injured the winter spirit further.

"... I'm f-fine, thanks Sandy" Jack gasped as he unsteadily got to his feet and limped over to where his staff had slid off to. With a grimace Jack tried to bend down to pick it up, but found himself unable to do so when fiery pain flared in his wounded side. His previous injury was worse now, and Jack knew that it was probably due to the hard impact with the lake's ice coated surface when he had fallen from the sky earlier.

Biting his lip as prepared himself to bend forward again, his icy eyes widened in disbelief when Sandy came to his rescue once more. The dream spirit picked his staff up and offered it to him with a small smile gracing his lips. "Thanks again Sandy, I owe you one... or two."

The Sandman shrugged, but his face became serious as he glanced around the lake before meeting Jack's gaze again with a questioning stare.

Leaning heavily upon his staff, Jack was about to explain to Sandy what had happened when he remembered something very important. "Jamie!"

The Sandman flinched at the winter spirit's unexpected outburst before Jack took off running across the ice. Confusion laced across the Sandman's features as he watched the winter spirit leave in a hurry without any further explanation. Raising his staff towards the sky, Jack yelled out, "Wind, take me to Jamie's house!"

In less than a second the wind had scooped up the snowy haired teen, and sent him flying rapidly across the forest and back towards the town of Burgess. Worry overrode the harsh pain that stabbed at Jack's insides as he struggled to stay awake. Jack couldn't explain it, but he just knew that Jamie needed him, he wouldn't allow himself to pass out before performing his guardian duties.

* * *

Some part of Jamie wondered if this was all just a bad dream as he fell face first towards the black asphalt. The cruel ground would probably do some serious damage if this was real otherwise, and Jamie wasn't so sure if he would be able to put up much more of a fight after this. The least amount of harm that would befall him would probably be getting knocked out, but the worst was death. Unlike it's master, the fearling would hardly care if the boy snapped his neck from the fall.

Bracing himself for impact, Jamie's eyes squeezed shut and his arms flailed out in front of him as if to save himself when he knew it would be impossible. Yet the impact came from a direction where he was least suspecting. With a cry of alarm, Jamie felt something plow into him from the side and hold him in a vice grip as the wind howled around him. His fingers scrambled for a hold and was surprised to find a softer material to hold onto as the world around him became a disorientating blur of darkness.

Then a few moments later everything stopped, and Jamie curiously glanced up from where he had buried his face from the sickening view. Navy blue caught his attention first before he looked up with a happy grin towards the familiar face of his best friend. "Jack! You came! I knew you would save me." Without even realizing the exhausted condition Jack was in, Jamie gave him a tight hug before pulling back again. "Seriously dude, where were you like a half an hour ago? Being attacked by a black sand horse thing in the middle of the night kind of sucks."

With a weak chuckle, Jack quietly told Jamie. "You know, out fighting stupid black sand horse things and the boogeyman." His cerulean eyes held pure exhaustion in them as he finally met Jamie's gaze, but the boy could still see a glint of worry in them. "I'm so sorry. I should have been more careful, but I promise it won't happen again."

With that Jack pried the boy's fingers off of his sweatshirt, and pushed Jamie back against the solid surface of what felt like rough tree bark. The chocolate haired boy watched silently as the winter spirit stood up and prepared to go after the remaining fearling. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

However, that's when the faint moonlight shined upon Jack's face, and Jamie truly saw the dark circles under the winter spirit's eyes, and the way he wavered unsteadily as if fighting off unconsciousness. "Wait, don't go!"

"Don't worry, this will only take a second," Jack replied, ignoring Jamie's request as he took off after the dark horse in the street below, leaving Jamie high up in one of the tall trees by the street.

The fearling snorted and pawed at the ground impatiently as Jack warily approached. Unlike the other dark stallions he had fought off earlier that night, this one was double the size of the previous ones. It was probably one of Pitch's strongest, and Jack couldn't afford to make one careless mistake. Slowly the winter spirit brought up his staff and prepared for any sudden movements when the fearling charged.

His body protested the quick dodge to the side and it screamed painfully at him to stop, but Jack didn't listen. All he could think about at that point was protecting Jamie, and making sure that his friend was safe.

Twirling the staff around before slamming it into the ground, a strong icy wave blew across the street, decorating the asphalt with beautiful shimmering frost. The fearling shrieked at the new slippery ground and took off into the skies instead. Not willing to let the beast escape so easily, Jack shot a blast of cold after it before commanding the wind to help him give chase.

The blast had just barely hit it's target and coated the fearling's hind leg with a thick layer of frost that wouldn't be coming off any time soon. Jamie gave a supportive shout from below, and Jack couldn't help the slight grin that formed on his face upon hearing it. However, his short moment of happiness was torn away as he noticed that the fearling was heading straight for Jamie. The wind whirled around Jack as he soared even faster through the air to get ahead of the beast. Then at the last second he turned and smack the end of his staff into the dark horse's face, veering it off course from it's target.

Snorting in frustration, the fearling whirled around to snap at Jack's staff, but the winter spirit was quick to pull his prized possession out of harms way. The dark horse clipped his shoulder as it passed by to aim for Jamie again, but Jack readied himself for it's retreat this time. With a yell, Jack released an even more powerful magical blast than before that crackled through the air before hitting and freezing it's target square on. The fearling let out a pained screech before dropping like dead weight to the concrete sidewalk below, it's frozen body shattering to pieces.

The wind wrapped around Jack supportively now that the adrenaline began to fade, and it carefully lowered the winter spirit to the road below. Leaning heavily upon his staff, Jack quietly observed the remains of the fearling with burning gaze, the anger having yet to completely abandon him.

"That was awesome! Like I knew you were cool before, but that was just plain epic!" Jamie shouted in amazement as the boy finally processed the short battle that had just taken place before him. The boy quickly scurried down from the tree like a monkey to join Jack while the winter spirit watched him carefully, ready to spring forward and catch him if he fell.

Jack had almost lost the boy twice that night, and he wasn't about to lose Jamie to a stupid tree.

"That definitely went way better than I had expected." Jack confessed with a slight smirk as Jamie finally jumped down and sprinted over to him. The boy panted from his tree climbing experience, but it did nothing to deter him from his relieved attitude.

"I bet you could still beat that horse on your worst day." Jamie told the winter spirit confidently before he observed the winter spirit's ragged form and winced. "Although that might be today, considering that you look like you've just got the crap beaten out of you."

Coffee eyes scanned the winter spirit before him who practically cringed away from the boy's gaze. It was bad enough hiding his previous injury, but the fight with Pitch had worsened his condition, and now there would be no hiding his exhausted and pathetic state from Jamie. "What happened to you? Why did you leave without telling me first?" Jamie asked worriedly, his gaze softening as it settled on Jack's weary pale blue eyes. He wasn't angry though which was what Jack had been expecting from the boy, but instead Jamie was confused about his sudden absence, and his most recent terrible health.

Opening his mouth to respond, Jack winced as his side suddenly flared with intense pain and black dots swarmed in front of his vision as a rush of dizziness overcame him. Without any further warning Jack's knees buckled beneath him, and he barely even registered that Jamie had caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Um... Jack? I know this is a stupid question, but are you going to be okay?"

Laughing from where his head sleepily rested against Jamie's shoulder, Jack winced as the action caused more waves of pain to shoot through his beaten body. "Yeah, I'll be alright... I'm just a little-" Glancing up from where he was slumped against his friend, Jack blinked twice upon noticing for the first time a giant golden unicorn behind Jamie that exhaled gently across his face. "...Unicorn."

Not wanting to comment on Jack's strange response, Jamie made a face instead and slowly began to drag the winter spirit back to his house, thinking that Jack was beginning to hallucinate. The chocolate haired boy was completely unaware of the majestic golden sand creature that pranced silently behind him every step of the way, watching over the two boys while the Sandman finished his rounds in the area.

* * *

**A/N: I'm still in shock that this story already has over 100 reviews. I love you guys so much, I can't thank you all enough :)**

**That was probably the most stressful week of college ever because of the six exams/tests I had, but at least I'm done with my first semester of college now. I tried so hard to get this chapter out earlier, but I was too busy with school and seeing The Hobbit on Friday with my best friends (and again today with my mom) that I didn't have time to type this all out. So in order to make up for the delay I made this chapter double the normal length for you guys, but now that I'm on winter break the updates should be much faster from now on. I'm guessing the next update will be on either Tuesday or Wednesday...**

**So the main plot of this story begins next chapter, what do you guys think is going to happen?**


	8. The Gathering of Myths and Legends

**Forever**

Chapter 8: The Gathering of Myths and Legends

* * *

Getting up had always been hard for Jamie because that meant he had to leave his wonderful dreams behind and face reality. So when his coffee eyes cracked upon due to the harsh morning light shining aggravatingly on his face, he groaned and prayed that it would go away. In an attempt to escape from the terrible light, Jamie rolled over onto his side only to let out a croaked pained noise. An awful burning sensation behind his shoulder blade nearly brought tears to his eyes as he sat up and tried to make sense of it; however, that was when Jamie noticed his odd placement on his bed. How in the world did he end up at the bottom of the bed?

Frowning, the boy glanced towards the headboard of his bed and stilled because he wasn't alone. With a yelp of surprise, Jamie flung himself to the floor, never breaking his stare from the limp figure buried under his two fluffy pillows. Approaching slowly and ready to bolt if the person so much as twitched, Jamie eventually came close enough to pull off one of the pillows. Surprise pulsed through him as he took in the sight of a sleeping Jack Frost curled up in ball with his mouth slightly open. Unlike last night when Jack had been fiercely protective and battle ready, this Jack looked completely at ease and vulnerable. However, the black markings still shown under his eyes, and various cuts and bruises were beginning to show on his pale skin.

Sensing the change, Jack unconsciously reached for the hood on his sweatshirt and pulled it over his head before nodding off into a deep sleep once more. Deciding that his friend really needed the rest after the disaster of last night, Jamie began to creep towards his bedroom door. As quietly as possible he pried open the door, cringing at every tiny squeak until he made a big enough gap for him to squeeze out into the hallway.

However, Jamie only managed to smile at his small accomplishment and take one step before his sister plowed into him, knocking him on his back and slamming the door into the wall with a bang. "Jamie! Mommy told me to tell you... Jack! Jack Frost is sleeping in your bed, Jamie!"

With a look of horror, Jamie could only watch as Sophie leapt off of him and climbed up onto the bed. "Wait, Sophie, don't wake him up," Jamie whispered as he scrambled to get to his feet.

"Why's Jack sleeping? Is he sick?" Sophie questioned curiously as she leaned over the guardian to get a closer look.

"Um... Yeah, he's sick, and we have to let him sleep that way he can get better." Jamie lied as he tried to coax Sophie off the bed with a few desperate hand gestures. "Now, let's go downstairs, you said mom had something to tell me?"

"Mmhm," Sophie replied a bit quieter as she slid off the bed to Jamie's relief. "Something really important, but she won't tell me until you come downstairs though."

Jamie's eyebrows furrowed as he tired to figure out what it could be, he had already told parents about his English grade so that couldn't be it. His life was chaotic enough right now that if something major had happened, Jamie was probably going to have a minor stress induced heart attack. "Well then, let's go see what she wants, I guess."

Holding his hand out for his sister, Jamie found himself catching a second person from falling in the past twenty-four hours. "Ow, what was that?" Sophie whined as she stood back up on her own and reached to pick up a familiar object that had tripped her.

"Jack's staff? But what's it doing on the floor?" Jamie thought out loud, turning to watch Jack grimace in his sleep, his hands grasping at the empty space in front of him. It was as if the winter spirit could sense that Sophie had trampled over his staff and wanted it back and out of harm's way. "Hey Soph, can you give me that?"

The little girl nodded and handed the shepherd hooked staff over to Jamie who marveled slightly at the powerful weapon. Never once since he had known Jack had he touched it, and now Jamie found that he couldn't stop trailing his fingers over it's chilled surface. However, it was completely unfrosted unlike it usually was when Jack held onto it.

Sneaking back to the front of the bed, Jamie carefully placed the staff in front of Jack's searching hands which quickly grasped onto it and pulled it tightly against his body. A fresh layer of frost spread out along the length of the staff, and Jamie almost yelped in panic as a little bit of it crept onto his fingers before he could pull away in time. It didn't hurt him, but it turned his skin pink and sent shivers down his spine as his body adjusted to the cold.

"Okay, let's go before we accidentally wake Jack up," Jamie whispered to Sophie who tried to peer around him in order to catch another glimpse of the sleeping winter spirit behind him.

"Do we have to?" Sophie pouted, wanting to watch the winter spirit sleep a bit longer. Jamie could hardly blame her though, it wasn't every day that a living legend fell asleep in their house.

"I'll tell you what, let's go downstairs and see what mom wants first. Then later when Jack wakes up, we'll all have a crazy, awesome snowball fight in our backyard. Sound good?" Jamie suggested, not liking to see his sister upset. Sophie's emerald eyes that had been filling with unshed tears quickly brightened at the mention of having a snowball fight, and with more eagerness than before she yanked Jamie forward and out of the room, leaving Jack to a nice quiet bedroom where he could sleep in peace.

* * *

"... Seriously?"

They were going to go to Florida in the middle of the week, randomly to go visit their grandmother apparently, but internally Jamie began to panic because that meant he would have less time to get his English report done. He was going to have to get some done this weekend if he had any hope of finishing the paper and getting it decent enough so that it would earn an A. Of all the times for his mom to suddenly get the urge to visit relatives that lived far away...

"Are we going to go to Disney World!? I want to see Mickey Mouse so bad!?" Sophie squealed as began to beg their mom to take them to Disney World.

Their mom sat down at the table, a sad smile decorating her face. "Sorry Sweetheart, maybe next time. Grandma has been wanting us to visit before Christmas this year, and I thought that now would be an excellent time now that you two are almost out of school." Their mom explained before continuing on. "I promise that we'll only be there for two days, and you'll be back in time for the weekend. By then the snow should be falling, and I know how much you two love the snow."

"But the snow's coming today, Jamie said so! I want to go to Disney World!" Sophie wailed while Jamie groaned and tried to ignore her loud protests as he munched on his cereal.

Eventually their mom couldn't take it anymore, and told Sophie to get in the car so she could grocery shopping with her. After they were done she promised the little girl that she would her a treat somewhere in order to take her mind off Disney World. On the way out the door she paused though and asked Jamie. "Do you want to come with us? We're going out for ice cream after we get the groceries."

"Nah, no thanks."

"You sure?"

Looking up from his cereal, Jamie glanced towards the garage where Sophie was still yelling then back to his mom. "Yeah, I'm sure."

His mother left after saying goodbye, leaving Jamie alone with his father. The man hadn't uttered a word since Jamie and Sophie had gone downstairs, it was obvious that he was upset about the surprise vacation. His father was angled away from Jamie, reading the newspaper with narrowed muddy brown eyes. The awkward silence in the room made Jamie self conscious as he continued to munch on the remains of his breakfast. A cloud blocked the sun out from above, dimming the light in the small room.

"So um... are you coming with us?" Jamie asked tentatively, unsure of how his dad would react.

The man grumbled something incoherent under his breath, and with his gaze still latched onto the paper in front of him, he replied. "No, I've got another business meeting overseas. I won't be back until next week."

"Oh," Jamie mumbled, not quite sure how to respond without sounding too disappointed.

Neither of them spoke for the remainder of breakfast, and the awkward silence increased tenfold. Every fiber of Jamie's being wished to be somewhere else at that moment as his stomach twisted into uncomfortable knots. Then after scooping the last spoonful of cereal into his mouth, Jamie took his dishes over to the sink to rinse them off. However, he almost accidentally dropped his plate as a piercing feminine scream echoed throughout the entire house.

Washing his hands off as fast as he could, Jamie briefly glanced at his father who sighed and shifted in his seat before turning to the next page in the newspaper. "D-did you hear that?" Jamie questioned as he began to inch towards the stairs.

"Hear what?"

More shouting could be heard coming from upstairs, and when Jamie's father didn't react to any of it he decided to make a hasty getaway to see what was going on. "N-nevermind. I'm gonna go work on my research paper." Jamie lied with ease as he slipped away, feeling his heart sink when he realized that his father didn't bother to respond back to him.

* * *

"Jack, what's wro-" Jamie began as he rushed into his bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him. His coffee colored eyes widened in shock though as he took in the sight of the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman hovering above the bed. The dream guardian waved to the boy who gaped openly at the new mythical beings in his room. "Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. What are you doing here?"

Tooth recovered fast to Jamie's sudden appearance, and with an overjoyed smile, the half hummingbird half human creature zoomed over to hover in front of Jamie. "Surprise, we're back! Oh my, you've grown so much! You're almost the same size as Jack now! Time flies by way too fast, I can't believe this." Violet eyes scanned over the stunned young teenager who could only manage to blink in response. Dainty hands grabbed the sides of his mouth, prying his jaw open to stare at his teeth. "You're teeth look as gorgeous as ever, you've obviously been flossing every night! Do you-?"

"Hey Tooth, calm down, I think the kid's going to pass out." Jack called from the other side of the room, coming to Jamie's rescue once again. Glancing past the beautiful fairy, Jamie finally saw the winter spirit who was hiding behind a pillow and holding it out like a shield.

"Oops, sorry, I always get a little carried away," Tooth apologized as the vibrant colored feathers on her body flattened guiltily. Jamie almost didn't notice how her violet eyes flickered over to Jack before traveling back to stare apologetically at the boy in front of her.

"It's okay," Jamie reassured her, sending a confused look to the three guardians in the room. "But what was all the screaming about earlier?"

The Tooth Fairy let out a nervous laugh, and straightened the feathers on top of her head. "Well I... I kind of..."

"I woke up to hands in my mouth, and two people hovering over me. I have to confess that I'm not exactly used to that happening to me just yet." Jack explained with a slight chuckle before he began coughing. "Although I think I almost swallowed her arm when I tried to get away."

"So basically, she reacted like Sophie when she saw you were sleeping, and then when you didn't wake up right away she tried to look at your teeth?"

"Basically... Wait, what did Sophie do?" Jack asked with a concerned look crawling upon his face.

"N-nothing," Jamie hurriedly answered not wanting to explain the events of that morning. "So are the others coming soon?"

Jack opened his mouth to ask another question, but Tooth was quick to cut him off. "Baby Tooth is getting North right now, so he'll be here shortly." She explained ignoring the frustrated look Jack sent the two as he huffed and sat back against the headboard of the bed. Sandy stared at Jack sympathetically before sitting down on the nightstand, his steady gaze returning to the other two.

"What about the Easter-"

_Bang!_

The sound reverberated throughout the entire area and shook the house, and someone bellowed out a few curse words in Russian which caused Tooth to blush. She glanced over at Jamie worriedly to see if he knew what North had screamed out, but thankfully the boy didn't seem to comprehend what he had said.

With an amused laugh, Jack grinned as he said. "North always knows how to make an entrance doesn't he?"

Jamie frowned at the name, unsure of who North was, but when a giant man crawled through his window and tumbled quite ungracefully to the floor, Jamie forgot to ask.

North quickly got to his feet, unsheathing his twin swords and holding them out at the ready. "I'm here! Where's Pitch, I want to show him new swords I crafted last week!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we have no clue where Pitch is right now." Jack told the mighty Russian who immediately deflated upon hearing the news.

Jamie's mouth hung open in shock as he gapped at Santa, just like so many years ago he was instantly fascinated with spirit. This gathering of the heroes from his childhood was almost surreal to him because almost every major mythical being he had grown up believing in was in his room. Any moment now Jamie was almost certain that he would hyperventilate and pass out form either shock or happiness at this point.

"I-I can't believe it, the Sandman, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus all in my room." Jamie breathed out in disbelief as it finally sunk in for him.

"Hey! What about me?" Jack questioned teasingly from his comfy spot on the bed.

"And Jack Frost," Jamie added with a small laugh before glancing around the room repeatedly to see all the mythical creatures surrounding him. If this was all just a dream, Jamie prayed that the Sandman would keep him under for several more hours so that this scene could play out. "... But where's the Easter Bunny?"

"That is good question, where is Bunny?" North asked Sandy who shrugged in response.

If Jamie hadn't glanced a little to the left towards Jack's general direction after Sandy's response, he would have easily missed the way the winter spirit's icy gaze hardened at the mention of the Easter Bunny. Without any further warning the temperature in the room dropped several degrees, and Jamie and Sandy glanced nervously in Jack's direction. Meanwhile, North and Tooth began contemplating on whether or not Baby Tooth knew how to get to Bunnymund's warren, oblivious to the winter spirit's souring mood.

Shivering in response to the sudden cold draft, Jamie was about to ask Jack what was wrong when a hole sudden appeared a few feet away from where he stood. Resisting the urge to peer into the strange anomaly, the boy gave a startled yelp when a large furry rabbit leapt out of it and stood before him. Bunnymund's sharp emerald eyes scanned the room as he backed up between Tooth and Jamie, he looked beyond tense and everyone's staring probably wasn't helping. However, when he noticed the winter spirit sitting on the bed, Jamie could actually hear his teeth grind together.

"Frostbite."

"Kangaroo."

A harsh breeze whipped through the room as Jack's hand reached down to pick up his staff while the Easter Bunny reached behind to grab onto one of his boomerangs. Glancing nervously between the two spirits, Jamie felt panic knot it's way through his gut as he wondered why Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny looked like they were about to rip each other's throats out.

* * *

**A/N: Yay back to fast updates again! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next update will probably be on either Thursday or Friday...**

**That moment when I realized the entire ROTG movie is on youtube... I think I've watched it four times in a row while typing this chapter out. I'm way too obsessed, but oh well :) I seriously can't wait for Christmas to come now, my mom got me a Jack Frost plushie from Barnes and Noble, but I have to wait until Christmas before I get it...**

**So what do you guys think happened between Jack and Bunnymund?**


	9. The Emergency Candy Cane

**Forever**

Chapter 9: The Emergency Candy Cane

* * *

Jamie and the other three guardians could only stare in shock as Jack summoned a whirlwind that began to tear apart the bedroom. Childhood drawings that had once been taped to the wall were ripped off before flying across the room. Images of cheerful guardians, past experiences, and school friends whipped around the room quite violently. Jamie was almost tempted to try to reach out and save a few of his precious memories, but the cold look upon Jack's face stilled him. Never in all his years of being friends with Jack had he seen the guardian of fun so upset and enraged.

The grip on his staff tightened as Jack's icy gaze focused on Bunnymund who was reaching for his own weapons, and the wind picked up even faster in response. A heavy beige lamp that stood proudly on Jamie's dresser teetered of the side and nearly crashed into the wooden floor below if the Sandman hadn't weaved a blanket of sand to catch it at the last second. Then to Jamie's utter embarrassment a gathered pile of used clothes were flung into the strong airstream to add to the growing chaos. Tooth and Sandy found themselves dodging random articles of clothing while North simply shrugged and brushed off a pair of penguin boxers as if it were no big deal.

The only saving grace for Bunnymund was that he was standing close enough to Jamie so he was relatively safe from the flying projectiles. It seemed that even when he was distressed and not able to think clearly, Jack was still able to shield Jamie from the brunt of powers. Jamie had just realized this when the Easter Bunny seemed to come to the same conclusion and side stepped closer to the boy. Cerulean eyes flashed angrily upon realizing what Bunnymund was doing, but the wind settled down to a mere breeze a moment later when Jack willed the wind to calm down so that it wouldn't hurt his friend.

It was then that Bunnymund tensed beside Jamie, ready to spring across the room to get to Jack with his boomerangs grasped tightly in his hand, when Tooth moved hastily to block his path. "Bunny, relax!" Her steely violet eyes narrowed at the rabbit, daring him to make a wrong move, and after a few seconds, Bunnymund relented. Seeing this as a sign of submission, the Tooth Fairy backed away and fluttered to the end of Jamie's bed, glancing between the two pissed off spirits. "What in the world is going on between you two!?"

"It's his fault, he started this whole mess and is now blaming it on me." Jack vaguely explained, his tone cold and bitter.

"It's not my bloody fault, and you darn well know that!" Bunnymund snapped, his fur bristling in response.

Jack scoffed and leapt to the end of the bed with such speed that Jamie had to do a double take. Tooth flew backward a few feet away after realizing how close she was to the winter spirit, a blush decorating her cheeks even though her violet eyes shined with worry. "You struck first, so obviously it was your fault."

Emerald eyes hardened, but did not deny Jack's claim. Still Bunnymund couldn't stop himself from lashing out in response to Jack's accusation. "I can't believe I came all this way to help you selfish, immature, clown! After all the destruction you caused, I have-!"

"Enough!" North bellowed out as he briskly made his way to stand between the two guardians. "Stop fighting, or I make you stop!" The tone in which North spoke was absolute and held no room for argument, and even though Jack and Bunny looked like two blood thirsty wolves, they were quick to back down to the firm command. Tugging on the black fur lining the edges of his long crimson coat, North held a pleased expression at seeing the two guardians heed to his demands. "Now then, we get down to business. Jack, what's this I hear about Pitch having returned."

The winter spirit briefly glanced over to where Jamie still stood, his coffee brown eyes filled with concern and curiosity. "I... When I got to Burgess I met up with Jamie, and later that night Pitch attacked him in his sleep. I decided to stick around and wait and see if Pitch would go after him again. However, he lured me into a trap, and I thought he kidnapped Jamie. So I went out to go fight him not realizing that I was leaving Jamie behind, and while I was fighting Pitch, a nightmare horse came and tried to take him away. If it wasn't for Sandy and Baby Tooth, I wouldn't have been able to stop him."

"Hmm, so he has an interest in the boy. Why?" North questioned, his black eyebrows furrowing in concern.

Jack's pale blue eyes glanced towards the floor as he answered. "On the first night that Pitch first attacked, he told me that he was going to go after everyone close to me. He wants revenge, plain and simple."

Aquamarine eyes softened upon hearing the distinct sound of pain in Jack's tone, and without thinking about it, North placed a heavy hand on Jack's shoulder and tried to reassure the winter spirit. "Don't worry, Pitch will not succeed, never has before and won't now."

Jack nodded before leaping backwards towards the headboard of the bed with a slight wince that didn't go as unnoticed by the others as he had hoped. Pulling the hood to his sweatshirt over his head and placing his staff in his lap, Jack began to voice out loud some of the complications he had thought of recently. "But what are we going to do? Christmas is coming up North, you're going to be super busy, and I know that Tooth and Sandy are always busy every night of the year. We can't all stay in Burgess and protect Jamie from Pitch."

"Are you suggesting that I'm not busy, mate?" Bunnymund growled, and although it didn't hold the same venomous tone as before it was enough to raise Jack's hackles again.

"I don't know, am I?" Jack asked bitingly back in response.

Jamie sighed and picked at the bottom of his night shirt, hoping that the two quarreling spirits would stop soon before his room got even messier. Luckily North and Tooth came to his rescue once more while the Sandman watched on steadily in the background, a handful of golden dream sand forming in his palm if things got out of hand once more.

"Come on guys, calm down, you're both acting like children! Sort this mess out later, we have bigger things to worry about instead of stupid, petty arguments." Tooth commanded looking exasperated as the two spirits continued to glare at each other. It wasn't until North spoke again did the two spirits finally tear their hateful gazes away from each other.

"Jack's right."

Silence filled the room as everyone turned to face the giant Russian who was staring at the winter spirit on the bed. Eventually Jack regained the ability to speak as he asked in disbelief. "I am? Wait, what am I right about?"

"All of us are busy, Christmas is in a few weeks, and there is no time for babysitting." North clarified, not noticing the face Jamie made when he said 'babysitting' like he was still a little kid that needed to be supervised. However, when the Russian turned to glance repeatedly between Jack and Bunnymund, the two spirits finally understood what was about to happen to their horror.

Unlike Jack who was dealing with the news inwardly, Bunnymund was quick to voice his complaint. "Oh no, no no _no no no_! I see where this is going, and I absolutely-"

"Accept the fact that you and Jack will be charged with protecting Jamie until further notice. It is our duty as guardians to protect the children of the world, and this boy is being hunted by the boogeyman. Surely you won't let such a terrible fate befall this boy." North reminded Bunnymund who looked like he was about to throw a fit. However, Jamie took no offense to the Easter Bunny's lack of willingness to help him because he knew how much the warrior rabbit loved him and his sister. Whatever had happened between him and Jack must have been pretty bad if he was trying to refuse working together with the winter spirit in order to protect him from Pitch's wrath.

"Now that we have decided on who will stay," North turned towards Tooth who was hovering beside him and Sandy who was still perched on the nightstand by Jack. "Tooth, Sandy, I need you to make some extra rounds in the area in order to locate Pitch faster. Check in with Jack and Bunny whenever you notice anything out of the ordinary. As for myself, I will keep sharp eye on the globe of belief and will inform you all if any of the lights so much as flicker."

"So you're saying that I'm going to have to put up with Kangaroo for who knows how long?" Jack complained while Bunnymund's emerald eyes narrowed threateningly.

Ignoring the winter spirit, North ruffled up Jamie's chocolate hair affectionately, and began to head towards the window to make his leave when a lightbulb must have gone off in his head. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Wheeling around, North searched the deep pockets of his crimson coat and pulled out something that made everyone but Jack who wasn't looking raise an eyebrow in disbelief. Without any further warning, North tossed the small, thin object at Jack, but he miscalculated and it hit him on the head instead of landing on the bed in front of him.

"Ow," Rubbing the sore spot where the offending object had hit him, Jack picked it up and deadpanned. "It's... a candy cane."

"Ah, but not just any candy cane! This candy cane when twisted will send a signal to me that you are in trouble." North explained with amusement sparkling in his eyes upon seeing everyone's befuddled expressions. "Now I must go, the workshop is probably in worse shape than this room." Without another word, the giant Russian squeezed himself back out of the window and went to go find his missing sleigh.

Blinking in surprise, Jamie turned to see the Sandman waving goodbye to everyone before floating off as well. All that was left was the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost, but from the looks of it Tooth was too nervous to leave the two guardians alone by themselves.

Pocketing the bizarre candy cane in the front pocket of his hoodie, Jack finally asked her. "So is Baby Tooth alright?"

Tooth nodded and her worried violet eyes observed the tense winter spirit for a moment before responding. "Yeah, she's going to be fine, Jack. After she left you, Sandy rescued her from the fearlings, and now she's in charge of all the other fairies until I get back." Her violet eyes stared sadly at the faint purple bruises and shallow cuts on Jack's pale face and neck. "She was really worried about you."

"Tell her that I'll be fine, I'm already feeling much better." Jack requested quietly, breaking eye contact and staring down at the staff in his hands. "You should probably be heading back to the Tooth Palace, Baby Tooth is probably going to stress herself out if she doesn't hear any updated news on recent events."

"Are you sure?"

"Go on, Tooth. We'll be alright." Jack urged, gesturing towards the window that North and Sandy had just departed through.

Seeing as she had no other choice, Tooth sighed before fluttering over to each of them to give them a tight hug except for Jack who cringed in pain under her carefully light embrace. "I'll check in on you guys in a few days if nothing comes up or if I get some free time. Stay safe!" With that Tooth flew out the window, leaving the remaining three boys in Jamie's bedroom in a tense, awkward silence.

"So... um." Jamie started, redirecting his gaze to the floor as the two guardians snapped their attention to him. "I'm gonna go start my homework now." With that Jamie scampered off to go collect his backpack, trying to ignore the intense stares of the guardians as he dumped out his folders and notebooks before he padded over to his desk to get started. The two were obviously still peeved at each other, and with nothing else to distract themselves with, Jamie knew he would have to suffice for them until they found something else to entertain themselves with.

Reaching over to grab a pencil lying in the corner of his desk, Jamie tried to remember why he had an abnormal sudden urge to start his research paper when he froze. "Um... guys. I-I forgot to tell everyone something very important."

Both guardians regarded him curiously, but Bunnymund who was always impatient hurriedly asked him. "What is it, mate?"

Feeling ashamed as he turned to face them, his coffee brown eyes flickered over to Jack's huddled form on the bed as he informed them both meekly. "I'm leaving for a trip to Florida this coming week."

* * *

**A/N: You people are amazing for all the reviews, follows, and favorites, I seriously can't tell you guys that enough :) **

**So yeah, I woke up yesterday and it was an absolute apocalyptic blizzard outside, I had no electricity, no way to make food, no internet, and it just plained sucked. Then after a series of miserable and strange events, I tried to get this chapter uploaded at a Panera Bread, but their internet didn't work either. I tried practically everything to get this chapter up on time. Lol thanks Jack for making my life miserable... But anyways speaking of apocalypses, we survived! ...again. ****I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday!**

**So for those of you that celebrate Christmas, what are you hoping to get from North this year?**


	10. Trix Are For Kids

**Forever**

Chapter 10: Trix Are For Kids

* * *

Jack carefully slipped a mask of indifference upon his face even as he began to panic at Jamie's sudden announcement. For once, the winter spirit felt relieved as Bunnymund decided to voice the two guardians immediate concerns. Jack wasn't quite sure if he could speak at the moment since it felt like he had been sucker punched in the gut.

"What do you mean, mate? How long are ya gonna be in Florida?" The Bunnymund asked carefully.

It seemed like Jamie hadn't realized yet that Jack and hot weather didn't mix well and this would effect their strategy against Pitch. The boy stood up from his chair, and nervously began to tug on the dark green sleeves of his pajama shirt. "I-I'm sorry, I totally forgot. I was going to tell Jack about it earlier, but then I saw the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Santa..." Jamie trailed off, looking guiltily at the floor. "I think it's only going to be for two days. Is this going to be a big problem?"

Bunnymund shook his head back and forth before his emerald eyes locked onto the still, balled up figure on the bed. "No, not for me, but ya might as well put Frostbite in the oven and burn him alive."

Jack inwardly cringed at the worried look Jamie gave the winter spirit, this was not what he had wanted to happen. Jack knew his limitations, and he hated it when other people doubted him to be able to do something. Although, he couldn't blame them both for worrying about an ice spirit going to one of the hottest places in North America for a few days. However, Jack also knew that there was no way he would be able to back out of this trip.

If Jack decided not to go then their group would be split up and vulnerable, and Pitch would be able to pick them off with ease. Jack was already exhausted and his previous wound had taken a turn for the worse after last night's fight with the boogeyman. As much as it would pain him to do so, Jack knew that he would have to go to Florida and endure the heat.

Then there was the fact that Bunnymund would probably mock him if he decided not to go. At this point, Jack was willing to go to any amount of length to get on Kangaroo's last nerve. He would never let Bunnymund gain any sort of leverage on him, even if it was going to probably kill him.

"I'm going," Jack stated firmly as he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt off his head, his icy blue eyes shining with determination.

Bunnymund stiffened in surprise before he masked the emotion and twitched one ear in annoyance. Pushing himself off the wall behind him, Bunnymund stood at his full height in hopes of intimidating the winter spirit into rethinking his decision. "Oh no mate, you're goin' stay right here. I'm not going to watch ya kill yourself, I won't allow it."

For a second, Jack nearly chuckled in amusement that Bunnymund was trying to keep him from seriously injuring himself while he was doing just the opposite. However, the feeling was quick to flee as a rush of anger flowed through him at Bunnymund's words. How dare the Kangaroo order him what to do after what he had done to him a few days ago?

"You can't stop me, I'm going to go to Florida, and I'm going to enjoy it! Don't tell me what to do, Kangaroo!" Jack snapped, hating every lying word that left his mouth. No matter how much Jack tried to convince himself that he was going to have fun in the sun, he knew that it was going to be hell for him. Still what if he didn't go with them and Pitch did something in his absence? What if he actually succeeded in kidnaping Jamie? Just the thought of that happening made the winter spirit's insides twist painfully because he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself for as long as he lived.

"J-Frostbite, I will personality find myself some rope, and tie ya to a tree outside if that's what it's going to take for ya to stay put."

"I'd like to see you try."

Bunnymund took a step towards Jack with an evil smile forming on his face. "Don't tempt me."

Jamie, who had been standing quietly next to his desk, glanced anxiously between the two spirits and was about to intervene when Sophie yelled from downstairs. "Jamie, we're home, is Jack up yet!?" The chocolate hair boy glanced over to the winter spirit who soon lost the rebellious look in his icy eyes as Jamie face became stricken with fear.

Quietly he whispered to Jack, "Please, can you pretend to still be asleep, I really need to work on my report?" Then turning towards the door, Jamie shouted back. "No, he's not awake yet, but I have a surprise for you up here, Soph!"

Glancing nervously back at Jack, the winter spirit frowned in confusion before he obediently plopped over on his side and slid his eyelids shut just as the little blonde burst through Jamie's bedroom door. Sophie panted at her overexertion from sprinting up the stairs, but her happy grin faded upon seeing Jack still 'asleep'. "Is he still sick?" Her emerald eyes were completely focused on the winter spirit and she didn't even notice that a six foot tall rabbit was watching her like a hawk a few feet beside her.

"Um... Sophie, you're surprise is over there." Jamie quietly informed his younger sister, gesturing towards Bunnymund.

The little girl made a soft whine as she turned to see what Jamie was pointing at then she went silent and froze. A look of total shock passed across her face before the happiest smile Jamie had ever seen stretched across her face as she took in the sight of the Easter Bunny calmly observing her. "... Bunny?"

"Hey there, ya little ankle biter." Bunnymund greeted softly as a smile tugged at his own lips.

"Bunny!" Sophie squealed in excitement, launching herself at the Easter Bunny and giving him a tight hug which he returned. "I've been making Easter egg drawings for Easter next year, do you want to see them!?" She began to tug him towards the door, leading him to her bedroom, and with a quick glance towards Jamie and Jack who had one eye cracked open, the warrior rabbit was forced against his will to follow Sophie.

However, before Bunnymund was tugged out the door, he glanced back at Jack and warned. "We're not done discussing Florida just yet, mate."

Rolling his pale blue eyes, Jack sat up and ran a hand through his tousled snowy hair as Jamie walked over to shut the door. With a sigh, Jamie trudged back over to the desk to start his research paper, plopping back into his wooden chair and eyeing the textbooks and papers with a look of disgust. After a few seconds of watching Jamie reorganize items on the desk, Jack slowly sat up with a low groan of pain, and tilted his head to the side as he curiously observed what Jamie was doing.

"So, what's the real reason you didn't want Sophie to see me awake?"

With a sigh, Jamie propped his head up with his fisted hand and answered. "I promised her that we would have a snowball fight once you woke up, but I'm grounded so I can't go outside and play until my homework's all done. However, I actually do have to start this awful assignment now because I won't have time to do it this week since we're going to Florida."

"You know I can help with-" Jack paused as he finally noticed the horrible condition Jamie's room was in. All sorts of drawings, posters, and clothes were scattered across the floor in such an awful mess that Jack felt guilt instantly pool in his gut. Some of the paper items were even ripped and crumbled beyond repair, and Jack knew how much time Jamie had put into making those pieces of artwork. "Did... Did I do this?" Jack eventually asked in such a broken voice that Jamie turned around in his chair to see what was wrong.

Glancing at Jack's horrified expression, Jamie quickly shook his head and reassured the winter spirit. "Don't worry about that, it's not that big of a mess. I'll pick everything up before I go to bed tonight."

"But I'm the one that made the mess, I'll clean it up for you." Jack protested as he moved to get off the bed when his side suddenly flared with intense pain. Wincing and letting out a soft pained cry against his will, Jack fell back against the bed and curled up into a fetal position.

"Jack?" Jamie was up and out of his chair instantly, worry showed plainly on his features as he watched Jack clutch at his side injury. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"It's nothing," Jack lied through gritted teeth as he forced his spasming body to relax as pain shot through him rhythmically. "Can I rest on your bed for a bit, I think I'm tired?"

Giving Jack a suspicious look, Jamie shrugged and decided once again not to press the snowy haired immortal teen for more information. "Yeah, no problem. If you need me I'll be over there," Jamie pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, "Just get some rest and feel better okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll be back to my old self by tomorrow, you'll see." Jack promised with fake cheeriness before he quickly succumbed to the persistent pull of unconsciousness.

* * *

When Jack finally woke up he didn't expect his muscles to ache as badly as he had predicted they would. It took a bit of stretching to get them to relax again so that he could move about freely again for the most part. Glancing around the room cautiously, Jack didn't see anyone in the empty room, and decided to peal up the side of his sweatshirt to examine the strikingly dark bruise on his once pale skin that wrapped around his rib cage. Gently, Jack prodded the area with feather light touches and nearly cried out as pain rippled throughout his side. The bruise was nearly on it's way to healing before his battle with Pitch, but now it was even worse than before. It would take a while before the bruise shaped like the edge of boomerang would fully heal.

With a sigh, Jack pulled his hoodie back down, and ran a hand through his snowy hair before attempting to guess how long he had been asleep. Maybe at the most he had managed to get a couple of hours in since it looked about noon now. Shifting to get off the bed, Jack almost stepped down when a soft mumble sounded from the floor by his dangling foot.

Retracting the dangling limb, Jack peered curiously off the edge of the bed and blinked in surprise at seeing Jamie fast asleep in a soft, gold sleeping bag. Jamie must have stolen one of the giant pillows from his bed before falling asleep though since he was cuddling with one with a happy smile. However, Jack grinned with amusement upon noticing that the boy was dreaming about a school of fish. The ones that swam above his head made of Sandy's golden sand circled around the sand version of Jamie who was in a scuba diver suit.

"It looks like I'm not the only one who dreams about fish," Jack commented quietly.

Leaping off the end of the bed instead, Jack swung his staff over his shoulder and padded around the room looking for something to do in the mean time, however, that was when he realized something. If Jamie was asleep, then how long had Jack actually been asleep? The boy was in his pajamas, so he had to have gotten ready for bed. Not to mention, Jack remembered Jamie telling him that he would pick up the huge mess Jack had made, and now his entire room was spotless. Did he really sleep through all of yesterday and last night!?

In all honesty, Jack couldn't remember a time in his long immortal life when he had slept for so long.

Continuing his circling of the reorganized room, Jack came to a stop when he noticed a piece of scrap paper taped to the window. The winter spirit walked over to it and felt a grin form across his face after reading the hastily written note taped to the glass surface.

_ Jack if I'm not here don't freak out I'm probably in the bathroom – Jamie_

Rolling his eyes, Jack chuckled in amusement before his attention was drawn to mountain of notes Jamie must have taken from researching the 1700s. Shuffling through the papers, Jack skimmed through them with interest until a loud alarm screeched from a small device on the desk. Jack yelped and held his staff at the ready as he leapt away from the small electronic device that began to light up as it continued it's awful screeching.

A small laugh tore his attention away from the evil device though as Jamie sat up and asked in a scratchy morning voice. "Can you answer that? It's my cell phone, I promise it won't bite you."

Blinking in surprise, Jack turned his attention back to the cell phone and cautiously approached it before picking it up. "So, how do I answer this thing?"

"Just slid the green button over to the left on the screen to unlock it, and it'll answer automatically." Jamie explained as he struggled to crawl out of the opening of his sleeping bag.

Frowning as he tried to drag his fingertip across the screen where the green button was, Jack nearly growled in frustration when nothing happen after several attempts. "Jamie, I don't think I can turn it on," Jack told the boy who was almost out of the sleeping bag. However, as Jack grew more and more frustrated with the mobile device, a thin layer of frost began to form across the glass screen, and with a gasp Jack hurriedly placed it back on the table before he could accidentally ruin Jamie's phone.

The winter spirit turned to see Jamie finally stand up and walk over to him. "Did you answer it?" Coffee eyes glanced at Jack's sheepish expression before turning his attention to the desk where his phone finally stopped ringing and went to voice mail. "I think your hands are too cold for the touch screen to answer it? Don't worry about it, it was probably just my mom." Grabbing the phone, Jamie listened to the voice mail of his mother telling him that his parents would be out for the day and that he would be in charge of watching over Sophie.

Jamie deleted the message and turned around to face Jack. "It looks like we have the whole house to ourselves today. Let's go get breakfast first, I'm starving."

"Okay, but quick question," Jack blocked the doorway, and his icy eyes stared intently at Jamie as he asked warily. "How long was I out?"

"Since last Saturday," Jamie answered easily.

"Since last Saturday? But that's... So how long was I-?"

"A long time," Jamie finished for Jack with a grim expression on his face.

Panic flickered across the winter spirit's face as he ran a hand through his hair and tried not to hyperventilate. "Alright, so what day is now?"

"Sunday." Jamie replied quickly as he rushed out the door with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Wha-?" Jack began only to have his eyes widen in realization. Jack had only slept through yesterday and last night like he had assumed, and Jamie for the first time had finally managed to pull a successful prank on him. "Oh, don't think you're getting away with this one, Kiddo!"

* * *

As Jamie moved around the kitchen grabbing various cooking supplies and ingredients to make breakfast, Jack observed quietly from where he was perched on top of the hooked part of his staff. Ever since the near heart attack Jamie had almost given him earlier that morning, Jack had been plotting ways of getting back at the boy. His icy blue eyes were drifting about as ideas flitted about in his mind, but none of them truly came across to him as the perfect prank for his friend.

The young teenager placed a small carton of eggs on the countertop before muttering to himself. "Now all I have to do is wait for Sophie to come downstairs." Turning to face the winter spirit who was still lost in thought, Jamie asked loudly to catch his attention. "Hey, we're going to have eggs and toast! Do you want any!?"

Flinching, Jack nearly lost his balance on top of his staff, but he managed to regain it before his gaze settled upon Jamie. "Nah, I'm not hungry." He would have tried to zone out again, but the look on Jamie's face confused him. "What?"

"How in the world are you doing that!?" Jamie asked in astonishment his coffee colored eyes widening in disbelief as he continued to marvel the sight before him.

Jack glanced down at where he was perched on top of his staff with perfect balance and readjusted his left foot a bit before looking back at Jamie. "Really? Out of all the bizarre things I can do, this is what impresses you?" Jack teased, chuckling in amusement as Jamie playfully glared at the winter spirit before turning back to the food behind him to start putting toast in the toaster.

The two remained in a comfortable silence for several minutes, and at around nine in the morning, Sophie and Bunnymund finally ventured downstairs. Sophie sat down eagerly at the table, patting the seat next to her and glancing up to wait for Bunnymund to sit down. Bunnymund gave Jack a threatening look, daring him to comment on his soft spot for the little girl, but he eventually sat down at the table and looked over at the little girl next to him who began to talk animately about what she wanted to do later after breakfast was over.

"So, how does everyone want their eggs?" Jamie asked from the kitchen as he finished buttering the final slice of toast.

Sophie happily shouted, "Scrambled!"

However, the Easter Bunny sitting beside her stilled at the question before he was finally able to respond. "What kind of bloody question-!?" Bunnymund began with a horrified expression on his face. "Are ya seriously asking me how I want to eat eggs, mate!?"

"What?" Jamie asked before face-palming himself, and groaning into his palm. "Oh, I'm sorry, I totally forgot about that." Giving the Easter Bunny an apologetic look, Jamie opened up a cupboard and pulled out a tall, thin box. "How about some cereal instead?"

Crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, Bunnymund sighed out, "Fine."

Jack had to resist a strong urge to send a cold chill of frost Bunnymund's way for being so grumpy, but he managed to control it as he watched Bunnymund's newest predicament. As soon as Jamie handed the warrior rabbit a bowl, spoon, and the box of cereal, Sophie began to stare at Bunnymund strangely.

Bunnymund simply brushed off her reaction as nothing to worry about, but as soon as he reached for the box of cereal, Sophie quickly yelled. "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!" Without any other explanation, Sophie snatched the cereal box away from Bunnymund who looked absolutely dumbfounded. "You aren't a kid like me, so you can't have this cereal." Sophie scolded the Easter Bunny as she set the cereal box as far away from the confused guardian as she possibly could.

Jack found himself biting the sleeve of his sweatshirt as he struggled not to laugh at Bunny's face, but it was a losing battle as Bunnymund looked between the two others in the room trying to understand what Sophie was talking about. The winter spirit turned to see Jamie loosing it quietly, his back facing the table as he made Sophie's scrambled eggs on the stove. However, his shoulders shook hard as he laughed uncontrollably, giving himself away to Bunnymund whose eyes narrowed suspiciously in response.

"What's so funny?" Bunnymund questioned with a mixture of annoyance and puzzlement as his ears laid flat against the back of his head.

Finally loosing it with Jamie, Jack wheezed out between breaths. "Silly rabbit, you should know better than to eat Trix cereal." Sophie nodded in agreement taking this matter quite seriously while the other two boys cracked up all over again.

"Will someone explain this 'Trix are for kids' joke already!?" Bunnymund finally demanded, sending Jack and Jamie into another fit of uncontrollable laughter.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I've been dying to do the 'Trix are for kids' joke for quite some time now :)**

**I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas or holiday, I finally bought myself the ROTG art book and ROTG movie novelization which are awesome! Although, I figured out for sure now that Jamie and Sophie's mother is a single mom, but I'm going to keep the dad in my story just for the plot's sake. Then I also learned that the fearling's eyes are gold colored instead of red, but I think I'm going to keep them red just for this story. I can't believe I'm already at 150 reviews, thank you all so much! The next chapter should be up on either Saturday or Sunday.**

**So, do you guys think Jack's actually going to go to Florida?**


	11. One Half of the Story

**Forever**

Chapter 11: One Half of the Story

* * *

By the time breakfast was over, Jamie was simply exhausted.

It was as if the roles were reversed and now Jamie was the adult keeping watch over the two bickering kids that didn't know when enough was enough. All Jamie wanted to do was hide up in his bedroom and let the two battle it out, but at the same time he knew Jack was still hurt for whatever reason and didn't want him to get in any worse condition. So Jamie had decided to take Jack up to his room while Sophie kept Bunny busy doing random activities around the house.

As much as he loved the two guardians like family, Jamie knew that he was going to have to get to the bottom of whatever happened between Jack and Bunnymund. His new goal for this week was to extract information from them and somehow get them to become friends again... or at least get them on friendlier terms with one another.

However, every time Jamie tried to weave the question into a conversation, Jack would be quick to change the subject to something else. At this point, Jamie was actually beginning to make it a game to see how many times Jack could avoid it. So far, Jamie had counted up to twelve times and was considering giving up at this point. For one, he was tired and his swollen jaw was irritating him, and the other was that he was mentally exhausted from finishing the outline of his research paper.

"It's done!" Jamie exclaimed, holding up his pile of messily scribbled on lined paper in front of him proudly before his head dropped down on his desk with a soft thump. Groaning from the newly forming headache that was beginning to pound away at his skull, Jamie ignored Jack's snickering from somewhere behind him.

"Can we go do something fun now?" Jack asked again for probably the hundredth time that day. In all honesty, Jamie couldn't blame him for trying though, it must have been torture to sit there watching him finish his outline. Jack had even tried to leave the room once to play with Abby out in the yard, but he came back to Jamie's bedroom in a hurry looking ruffled and twitchy. However, when Jamie sent him a questioning look, Jack had simply brushed it off like it was nothing.

"Sorry Jack, I have to go over my notes really quick and make sure I didn't leave anything major out. Then I think I should be done." Jamie apologized half-heartedly as his coffee colored eyes skimmed back and forth across the numerous pieces of paper. "You can take another nap if you want, I should be finished by then."

"Nah, I've had enough sleep as of recently," Jack declined as he continued to pace back and forth behind Jamie.

Turning the page over that he was currently reading, Jamie asked distractedly. "So, why didn't you want to play with Abby again?"

The winter spirit paused in his pacing for a few seconds as he considered how to voice his response before finally telling the chocolate haired boy. "I haven't been exactly doing my winter season duties, and the wind isn't really happy with my decision for staying here."

Jamie nodded, not really paying attention until the words sunk in and he frowned. "Wait, the wind isn't happy with you?"

"Not to mention my other... complications that I've been experiencing since about an hour ago." Jack continued cryptically.

Placing the rough draft of his research paper down on his desk, Jamie sighed knowing that he really didn't want to turn around, and when he did his mouth fell open in shock. Frozen footprints shined in the sunlight on the wooden floor, some of them already beginning to melt and form a small puddle in the center of the room. His bed was coated in a thick layer of ice, and on nearly every surface in his room, fern like spirals of frost glistened in the afternoon light.

"What the?" Jamie blinked in surprise and just when he thought it couldn't get any more like the beginnings of a winter wonderland, it began to lightly snow in the room. "Jack, what's going on?"

The winter spirit sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced around the room with Jamie. "I ah... I think I have been holding back on my magic for too long, and it's starting to get out of control. I'm sorry Jamie, I honestly didn't know that it would do this. I thought I could make it stop, but I don't think I can control it anymore."

"How did I not notice this sooner?" Jamie asked as he stood up to get a better view of everything only to step in an icy puddle and wince as the cold water soaked through his sock and bit into his sensitive flesh. "Not to be nosy or anything, but does this happen to you often if you don't get to release your magic normally?"

Icy eyes guiltily glanced down at the floor as Jack sighed out. "I don't know, I've always been outside for the most part. I've never really had to control my abilities like this before. I'm usually long gone in the skies by now causing snow storms and such."

Crossing his arms across his chest for warmth, Jamie reached out to touch some of the frost that began to creep up the side of his dresser. It was absolutely freezing, and the tips of his fingers turned rosy red instantly and tingled against the drastic temperature change. Yet the longer he examined the fascinating substance the more Jamie began to notice how it seemed to glow blue with Jack's magic unlike how it normally looked. "Jack, you can go if you want to, I mean to release some of your magic then you can come back, plus you said earlier that the wind missed you."

"But Jamie, I'm needed here, what if Pitch comes back?" Jack pointed out, a nervous expression flickering on his face as he anxiously continued to pace around the room.

"Jack, you're my friend, and even I can tell that something's not right with you. Just take a break for a few hours and blow off some steam. Don't worry about keeping me safe, the Easter Bunny's right across the hall, and I'll probably go hang out with him and Soph later."

A conflicted look fell upon Jack's face as he stopped pacing, but Jamie felt his concern go through the roof when the winter spirit actually began to tremble. It was as if he he painfully restraining all the plugged up energy in his body and it was struggling to be released. The winter spirit glanced pleadingly over to Jamie as if to say that he would be fine, but Jamie wasn't buying it in the slightest.

Eventually, Jack sighed in defeat before he carefully padded over to where Jamie was standing, frost coating the ground where his feet touched the floor. "I'll only be gone for an hour or two, and then I'll come right back." Jack relented, finally admitting that his presence was becoming counterproductive. "But I want you to stay with the Easter Kangaroo while I'm gone."

Jamie nodded in agreement before he looked back at his pile of papers that he still needed to edit. There was no way that he would be able to work on them if he was going to be hanging out with the Easter Bunny and Sophie for the rest of the afternoon. It looked Jamie was going to be staying up late tonight much to his dismay because he knew that waking up the next morning for school was going to be awful.

Turning back towards Jack, the young teenager's coffee colored eyes widened in surprise at the intense anxiety that seemed to radiate off his immortal friend. Then a moment of realization hit Jamie like a ton of bricks, here he was worrying over his stupid research paper while Jack was suffering trying to keep him safe from the boogeyman. If it wasn't for him, Jack would be out flying around making snow days and having fun with all the other kids in the world. Although Jamie knew it was selfish to think this way, he sort of enjoyed having Jack around all the time.

Yet that was when another awful thought crossed through Jamie's mind, and filled him with dread like the plague. What if Jack was beginning to think of him as a hinderance to his everyday life.

"I'm a burden," Jamie silently breathed out, feeling guilt and shame filling every fiber of his being. However, what Jamie didn't expect was the winter spirit to actually hear what he had said under his breath.

A chilling hand lightly landed on his shoulder and gently squeezed it before Jack let go as frost began to spread out across Jamie's shirt. Glancing up shyly, Jamie was met with wide disbelieving cerulean eyes stared directly into Jamie's dulling coffee ones. "Jamie, you're my friend, you will never be a burden to me, and I swear to you, I will never let Pitch get you until the day my heart stops beating. Please don't ever doubt yourself, and remember that this whole mess is not your fault." Jack calmly told his friend before pulling him in for a loose hug and feeling Jamie return it gratefully.

Jamie pulled back just in time to see Jack wince from the contact, but the pained expression was quickly masked as Jack grinned and ruffled his friend's chocolate hair up before jumping up onto the windowsill and opening up the window. Turning back over his shoulder, Jack glanced towards the stack of papers before he began to ask. "Also, when I get back later if you still haven't found enough information on-"

A huge gust of wind swirled around Jack, and it quickly ripped him from where he was perched and sent him soaring up into the sky with a surprised yelp, leaving Jamie wondering what Jack was about to offer him. Shrugging his shoulders and shivering a little from Jack's freezing hug, Jamie closed the window securely before he dragged himself over to his bedroom door, dreading the rest of the afternoon.

As much as he loved his sister and the Easter Bunny, he just had a feeling that it was going to be an awkward afternoon.

* * *

Jamie knew that he should have expected to see something like this when he walked into Sophie's bedroom, but it still didn't make it any easier for him to digest. Now he knew that was going to live with this terrible image for the rest of eternity and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. With a sigh, Jamie lightly kicked the door shut behind him and greeted the two others in the room. "So, what are you guys doing?"

Sophie beamed enthusiastically as she beckoned for Jamie to come closer. "Jamie, you have to help me, I can't get the last bow on."

Refusing to make eye contact with the tightly wound up guardian who looked like he was about to jump out a window, Jamie cautiously approached and took the neon pink bow from his sister. Jamie knew he should have disobeyed Jack's one request to stay with Sophie and the Easter Bunny when he still had the chance to back out, and now he found himself fighting down the urge to stare openly in shock and laugh hysterically at the sight before him.

Apparently, Sophie had gotten bored of playing dress up with the dolls their grandmother from Florida had gotten her last year and had decided to use Bunny as a model instead. The poor warrior rabbit's ear twitched in annoyance, and his emerald eyes narrowed suspiciously at Jamie as he focused hard on the floor in front of him.

From the quick glance he had gotten before he had turned away, Jamie knew that the Pooka was wearing an assortment of their mother's jewelry such as: bracelets, necklaces, and clip on ear rings. A variation of different shades and colors of makeup had been smeared across the fur of the rabbits face, and Bunnymund's nose twitched in an attempt not to sneeze from the awful dust odor it gave off. However, it was the neon pink bow tied at the base of his left ear and the frilly pink skirt that had Jamie fighting to keep his emotions in check.

It looked like both guardians were willing to go to crazy lengths to please their favorite kids. Yet unlike Jack who was fighting against the boogeyman to keep Jamie safe and happy, poor Bunnymund was stuck playing dress up until Sophie decided to do something else.

Clearing his throat and looking back at Sophie, Jamie held up the bow and asked again for clarification. "You want me to put this on the Easter Bunny?"

"Just call me Bunny, mate. It's less of a mouthful to get out."

"O-Okay," Jamie stuttered, not expecting the Pooka to actually talk to him in this strange and extremely awkward situation.

With a huff, Sophie pouted before she motioned towards Bunnymund's free ear which twitched slightly in response. "I can't tie the bows really good, and it keeps falling off. You have to put it on for me, Jamie!"

"Okay, okay, I will, but first can you go grab your art supplies from downstairs while I put the bow on Bunny?" Jamie requested with an innocent smile that made Sophie scamper off without a second thought. Rubbing his eyes as he felt his previous headache returning, Jamie turned towards the giant rabbit and glanced nervously up at him. "Do I really have to tie this on-?"

"Blimey, I don't know how ya can deal with her on daily basis, she's the most high maintenance critter I've ever seen!"Bunnymund exclaimed suddenly to Jamie's surprise. The boy backed up a few steps as Bunnymund stood up and began to take everything off, and after discarding the stretchable skirt, shiny jewelry and pink bow into Sophie's closet he sat back on his haunches to shake off the makeup. Jamie could only watch in awe as the the warrior rabbit expertly shook off the powdery and glittery substances until there wasn't even a single trace of it left on his ruffled, grey fur.

Noticing Jamie's staring, Bunnymund growled out somewhat threateningly, "Not a word of this to anyone, understood mate?"

"Understood," Jamie replied quickly, not wanting to get on Bunny's bad side, but his nervousness around the guardian soon faded to wonder as he asked curiously. "That's so cool, how do you do clean all of that off you so fast?" He stared in amazement at the Pooka who checked his fur for any remaining traces of makeup.

"I'm used to cleaning up fast after dealing with messy painting supplies that I use for the Easter eggs each year." Bunnymund explained before his gaze settled back on Jamie who began to fidget nervously in response. "Why aren't ya with Frostbite?"

"Well um... Jack needed to um take a break, so he kind of left." Jamie awkwardly explained as the warrior rabbit's gaze intensified with his growing anger.

"He did what!?"

"H-His magic was building up inside of him and overflowing and it was making a huge mess in my room. He hasn't been out making it snow for a while and we both thought he could use a break, he said that he'd be back in a few hours before it got dark." The boy cringed as Bunnymund breathed heavily to control his rage that burned in his narrowed emerald eyes.

"He better be back, or I'll make him pay even more than what he did before." Bunnymund grumbled to himself as he sat back on his haunches and allowed his once bristling fur to lie flat again.

Jamie perked up upon hearing Bunny vaguely mention the fight he had with Jack, and without missing a beat Jamie asked him. "What happened between you and Jack?"

The Pooka's expression soured upon hearing Jack's name, but Jamie wait patiently for him to calm down so he could finally get an explanation. Bunnymund glanced over to Jamie before he began to examine his razor sharp claws like they were the most fascinating thing in the world. "Frostbite hasn't told ya yet?"

"Not really, so I was kind of hoping that you would tell me," Jamie answered honestly, hoping desperately to get some insight on what had happened.

Bunnymund gave the young teenager a long look before sniffing the air to sense for any unwelcome eavesdroppers before beginning. Reassured that they were alone for the time being, the warrior rabbit slowly began his side of the story. "It was an accident, I was at the warren, the place where I live and make the Easter eggs, and I sensed something was up. One of my sentinel eggs was giving off an intruder signal, so I ran to the field where the main continent tunnels where. However, on the way there I heard someone moving on the other side of the passage way I was traveling through, and I threw a boomerang to stun them so I could stop them from messing with my eggs, but it ended up being Jack."

"Did your boomerang hit him?" Jamie pressed the rabbit when he suddenly stopped and fisted one of his paws angrily in his lap.

His ears stiffly flattened against his head as Bunnymund continued. "I don't think so, because the next thing I remember is when Frostbite suddenly froze everything in the field. By the time I got to where he was, he looked perfectly fine to me as he floated above a group of frozen sentinel eggs. All the flowers, grass, eggs, and plants were all dead thanks to that irresponsible, immature-!"

"B-But that doesn't make any sense, why would Jack suddenly destroy your stuff?" Jamie stammered, unable to believe that his friend was capable of doing such an act without a reason... Unless it was for defensive purposes. "What if you did hit him with your boomerang on accident?"

"I really don't think I did, I found it lying in the grass on the other side of the field and Frostbite didn't even look like he got injured. All he did was insult me repeatily and destroy a part of my home which is going to take months to fix by the way. Besides, he seemed alright to me when he flew off and left me to clean up his bloody mess."

Jamie frowned and was about to ask something when Sophie burst through the door with an armful of art supplies. "I'm back!" She dumped her stuff on the floor before glancing up and with a gasp Sophie took in Bunnymund's normal looking state. "Bunny, you took off all the pretty stuff!"

"Hey there ankle biter, I was thinkin' that maybe we could play with these little guys instead?" Bunnymund suggested as he held out a handful of walking eggs that marched in separate directions around the room. Sophie's eyes lit up with wonder as she chased after them with an excited squeal.

"Just talk to him for me when you get back, please?" Jamie pleaded, earning a surprised look from the warrior rabbit. "I think this is all just a huge misunderstanding between you two, and I really want you guys to become friends again."

Bunnymund hesitated and was about to answer him when Sophie came scampering back to Bunnymund, holding out an egg that desperately flailed it's legs in the air in an attempt to free itself. "I got one!"

"Well look at that, ya did catch one," Bunnymund praised with a grin before turning back to Jamie with a more serious expression. "I promise, I'll talk to him tonight."

* * *

Jack never returned, and Jamie ended up having to spend the night in Sophie's bedroom. Thankfully, when his mom got home and saw the extensive amount of water damage in his room from Jack's earlier wintery episode, she had told him to find another place in the house to sleep for the night. It was really uncomfortable having to sleep on the floor of Sophie's room, but Jamie couldn't deny that he felt safe under the sharp watchful eyes of Bunnymund who remained vigilant the entire night.

School the next day was dull and boring, and with every few seconds that ticked by, Jamie found his thoughts drifting back to the winter spirit. At this point Jamie was panicking, and was also nearly sick with worry that continued to fester inside of him. Was it Jack injuries that had made him late? Or maybe Pitch had caught him before he could leave Burgess? As much as Jamie tried to reassure himself that Jack was powerful and could handle himself, his anxiety filled thoughts told him otherwise.

A blur of grey raced across the ground outside about a hundred yards away from where Jamie sat in his Algebra class. Jamie's coffee colored eyes flashed with excitement for a second as his gaze followed the irritated Pooka as he made his rounds between the high school and nearby elementary school that Sophie went to. Jamie knew Bunny was pissed at Jack for not showing up like he promised last night, and the poor guardian had been working his tail off all day to make sure the perimeter around both the schools were safe from Pitch and his fearlings.

With a sigh, Jamie stared up towards the puffy, wintery storm clouds, hoping that Jack would return to them soon.

* * *

**A/N: I did not expect such a huge response from the last chapter, I'm so happy that you all enjoyed it :D All the reviews made me squeal and freak out just a bit...**

**I just finished making a somewhat solid third and final outline for this entire story, so if everything goes as planned (which it never does) then this entire story should be about 23 chapters long. So we're about half way there to finishing Forever, and not to mention that the end stretch begins in a few more chapters... Only one more chapter to go before the Florida trip, I think almost everyone who reviewed guessed that Jack will be going, but we'll see... To those of you that celebrate on New Years Eve/Day, I hope you all have fun partying! _The next chapter should be up by either Tuesday or Wednesday!_**

**So, what do you guys think happened to Jack?**


	12. The Day it All Started

**Forever**

Chapter 12: The Day it All Started

* * *

"Waaaahooo!" Jack screamed as the wind tossed and turned him in nearly every direction, the sensation was as thrilling as much as it was disorienting. The winter spirit knew that he would be lying if he said that he didn't miss flying and spreading snowstorms wherever he went. Also, the wind was beyond pleased to have Jack ride upon it's back once more and travel with him across the world. However, the winter spirit was not aware of how much time had actually gone by, and every time he tried to catch a glimpse of the sun's position in the sky, the wind would twirl him around like a leaf in the breeze and scramble up his thoughts once again.

The air buffeted him up into the atmosphere and through the thick, puffy, winter storm clouds that dropped snowflakes the size of cotton balls down on the world below. Then without warning, the wind dropped him, Jack yelped in surprise at how rough the wind was being with him today, but he still trusted his oldest friend with his life. At about fifty feet above the ground it began to slow his descent once more before throwing him back up to do it for the hundredth time that day.

"Hey wind! I think I should go home now! I need to get back to guarding Jamie!"

Obviously, that was not want the wind wanted to hear, and to Jack's surprise it shoved him further North and away from Burgess. "Wait, wait, wait! I really need to get back! I promise I'll play with you tomorrow!"

The wind nudged his right cheek in response, almost like a puppy begging for attention from it's owner. "I'm sorry I haven't been the greatest in the past few days, but I really need to get back and... Oh no, is that the sun rising! I've been gone all night!?"

The winter spirit panicked and gripped his staff even tighter than before. "Wind, I'm serious, please take me home."

The wind whistled around him for a second before it sent him skyrocketing back towards Burgess. Even though he could practically hear the wind apologizing for keeping him out so late, Jack could only think of the others and how worried they must have been.

* * *

A familiar town came into view sometime during the late afternoon. Jack grinned upon seeing the town's twinkling lights in the distance, and swooped down lower to cause a bit of mischief before getting back to Jamie's house. Frost was sent spiraling up buildings and telephone wires, and black ice began to form on sidewalks. However, Jack winced when some of it got a little out of hand and crept onto the roads. Luckily, it shined brightly in the headlights of the cars traveling over it so the drivers knew to slow down ahead of time.

One business man who had been walking back to his car to go home for the night cursed as he suddenly fell down and his suitcase spilled open. Documents spilled out all over the sidewalk, and Jack chuckled at the look of shock that had come across the unfortunate guy's face.

As agile as a cat, Jack soared down onto one of the telephone wires and raced across them until he reached Jamie's street. Even though he had spent the entire day using up as much excess magic as possible, Jack still knew that he had a bit left and used it to cause a heavy snowfall that would definitely cause a snow day the next morning. It was the least he could do after not showing up the previous night and probably causing the others to stress out over his absence.

By the time Jack had arrived at Jamie's house it was completely dark save for the numerous street lights and houses lit up from the inside. Landing on the roof, Jack struggled to catch his breath as he panted in exhaustion after all the activities he had been doing for over the past twenty-four hours. Slinging his staff over his shoulder, the winter spirit was just about to jump down to Jamie's window and apologize when a gruff voice sounded from behind him.

"You're late."

Whirling around with his staff pointed at the ready in the direction of the unexpected arrival, Jack lowered it slightly upon realizing that it was only Bunny. "Oh, hey Kangaroo, anything happen while I was gone?"

The warrior rabbit's emerald eyes narrowed in frustration as he stalked closer to Jack who backed away in return. "I have been working my tail off to cover for ya. Where have ya been!?"

"So, I'm guessing nothing happened then?" Jack assumed as he placed the bottom of his hooked staff against the roof and leaned forward against it. "I might have gotten side tracked along the way, but hey, I'm back."

The Pooka's whiskers twitched in irritation before he growled out. "It doesn't matter that you're back now! What were ya doing earlier that was more important than watching over the kids we were assigned to protect!? Pitch is out there planning who knows what, and he could have attacked us at any moment while ya were gone! Do I have to hit ya over the head with my boomerang a few times before it finally sinks in that this is a serious situation!"

Jack's expression darkened and his entire frame tensed up as Bunny finished his rant. Leaning back off his staff, Jack held it angrily at his side as he sent Bunnymund an icy glare. "I think you've already done that enough for the message to sink in. As for my lateness, I was going to apologize before you butted in, Kangaroo. Now, leave me alone."

The winter spirit turned to jump off the roof, but Bunnymund was faster and blocked his path to Jamie's window. "What did ya say?"

Jack's eyes flashed cerulean for a heartbeat before he leapt away out of reach once more. Wariness showed briefly across his face as he observed the warrior rabbit from a more comfortable distance. "I said... leave me alone."

"Nah, before that," Bunnymund pressed, causing a rouse of suspicion to course through Jack.

Rubbing his feet against the rough tiles of the roof beneath him, Jack sighed and shook his head. "I'm not going to repeat myself again, Kangaroo. Now move."

"I did hit ya on accident a few days ago in the Warren... didn't I?"

"Step aside, Kangaroo."

"Is that why you destroyed all my plants and injured my sentinel eggs?"

"Bunny!" Both Jack's and Bunnymund eyes widened in surprise at the winter sprit's slip up before he flatly repeated. "Step aside."

"No, tell me what happened, mate. I want to know the truth." The warrior rabbit told the winter spirit who glanced away towards the newly frozen streets.

Eventually Jack turned to face Bunnymund with an indifferent look upon his face as he reached down to grasp the bottom edge of his hoodie. A hardened gleam flashed through his eyes as he spoke evenly and coldly towards the other guardian who stilled under the intensity of his gaze. "You want to know the truth?" The Pooka didn't feel the need to respond as the winter spirit lifted his hoodie to reveal the dark, swollen skin that wrapped around the side of his rib cage, even in the poor evening light it looked extremely painful to Bunnymund. "Yes, your boomerang hit me, and it hurts like hell. Now, will you get out of my way."

The winter spirit began to rise in the air as if he was going to fly to Jamie's window instead, but Bunnymund quickly spoke up, causing him to pause. "Wait, wait, wait! I did hit ya? Why didn't ya tell me ya gumby before ya scampered off!?"

Jack shrugged, wincing slightly as the action caused pain to shoot through his injured side. However, Bunnymund noticed his pained reaction, but to the winter spirit's surprise he could see guilt flashing across the Pooka's face.

Lowering his ears and relaxing his body posture so that he appeared less threatening, Bunnymund softly requested. "Can ya please tell me what happened that day, mate?"

Hesitating, Jack internally debated on whether or not he wanted to fill Bunnymund in on his side of the story or not, but in the end he decided that no matter how annoying, grumpy, and cocky Bunny could be, he was still his friend. Although, Cottontail was really going to have some making up to do for his mistake because this bruise was not going to be going away anytime soon.

With a sigh, Jack set his staff down on the roof and carefully perched on top of the hooked part with perfect balance. "Well, here goes nothing. It all started when I decided to visit the North Pole..."

* * *

(_Flashback_)

To say everything was hectic at the North Pole would be a massive understatement. The yetis desperately slaved away at making toys while elves scampered about getting into trouble and eating all the food they could get their grubby little hands on. Almost everyone in the toy factory was shouting about something or another, but it was mostly yeti gibberish that Jack couldn't understand.

Flying through the large workshop and childishly gazing at all the toys with a look of innocent wonder, Jack nearly flew into a large toy plane but he dodged below it at the last second. "Whoa, now this is something else." He had never been able to see inside the toy factory this close to Christmas before and even though it was still November it might as well have been Christmas Eve with all the commotion going on throughout every single floor of the place.

Landing on the floor where Jack had first been introduced to this place when North had kidnapped him, Jack observed the entire area curiously and even looked over the railing to glance down at the floors below. The yetis simply eyed him warily as he strolled around with his staff swung over his shoulder, occasionally leaving a trail of frost on the floor beneath him.

It wasn't long until North's familiar face popped into view. "Ah ha! Jack Frost, how nice of you to visit. What is occasion?"

Allowing a small smile to form, Jack shrugged nonchalantly before answering the other guardian. "I was just in the area, and I wanted to drop by and say hello before I have to leave to go make some snowstorms for the next few months."

North spread his arms wide and beamed happily down at Jack before telling him warmly. "You are always welcome here my friend."

Jack opened his mouth to say something in response when North suddenly engulfed him in a bone crushing huge. "Urgh, North? Can't... breathe..."

"Huh? Oh sorry, you are like twig and break too easily." North apologized as he released Jack who backed away to a safer distance. "You need more meat on you, like me for example." The jolly man told the winter spirit as he patted his belly. "Now come, I must ask you something."

The two walked through the mess of hard working yetis, and every once in a while North would stop to critique one about something. However, as the guardian of wonder stopped to talk to the fifth yeti, an elf skittered past Jack's feet and the snowy haired immortal flinched as it stumbled over his toes. He was about to send a light wave of frost after it when another elf carrying salt and pepper shakers tripped over a train set on one of the work tables. The salt and pepper went flying and Jack only had time to say, "Oh no," before the well sized jars shattered on the floor and the pepper wafted through the surrounding air.

The elf as if sensing danger fled after the other elf and disappeared around a corner while Jack struggled not to sneeze. North had his back turned to him and didn't see what had happened and what was about to happen. However, one yeti glanced up and it's eyes widened comically in horror as Jack finally sneezed all over the large stack of brightly colored robots. A thick layer of frost coated all the robots, and underneath the ice some of the robots crackled a bit with electricity before they died completely.

"Whoops," Jack said sheepishly as he gave the yeti an apologetic look.

Still oblivious to what had happened, North stopped talking to the dark grey furred yeti and started to walk over to where Jack was when he paused to stare at the pile of frosted robots. Jack and the panicking yeti froze as North paused to rub his beard before shaking his head disapprovingly. "I don't like it, make it less... frosty."

"Wargabluga!?" The yeti blurted out before pointing towards Jack as if to blame him for the mess. "Argablug! Urghada!"

However, North had already moved on, and with a shrug Jack followed him, leaving the upset yeti behind. Jack had to chuckle a bit though as he heard a loud thump as the yeti's head banged against the table in frustration before it got up to start from scratch.

The two continued on until they reached North's private workshop, and upon entering Jack couldn't help but explore the place as the other guardian prepared for what he was about to ask. However, icy blue eyes spotted something lying on North's desk that made him frown and pick the object up curiously. "What's one of Bunny's boomerangs doing here?"

"Ah, that is very good question! I was about to ask you to take it to him if you don't mind that is." North explained as he came closer to the winter spirit who was gazing at the weapon with undisguised interest. "Bunny came here to help few days ago, and left it on accident. I've been too busy to return it with Christmas on it's way."

"I'll do it," Jack volunteered, glad to help out a fellow guardian. "It's the least I can do after ruining Easter a few years ago."

"I thought you made that up to Bunny?" North questioned while raising a dark eyebrow.

"I promised him that I wouldn't make it snow on Easter for the next ten years, but I haven't really helped him with anything in particular." Jack explained before he held up the boomerang and began to back up towards the door. "Well then, I guess I'm off to find a hole in the ground or something..."

"Here, take this," North urged suddenly, holding out a heavy object for Jack to take. The winter spirit awkwardly switched the boomerang into the same hand as his staff before taking the magic snow globe. "Once you're done with errand then you can be you're way. Just remember, think of where you want to go and globe will take you there."

Taking a second snow globe off the shelf, North smashed it into the ground and the two watched as the Warren came into view through the portal. Flashing a quick grin at North, Jack told him a quick goodbye before leaping into the magic portal.

* * *

**A/N: I almost can't believe that this story has almost reached 200 reviews... Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! I'm so happy that I reached over 200 followers this past chapter :)**

**Well, I didn't expect this chapter to be over 5,000 words, so I kind of split it in half... But I promise that _I'll upload the second part of this chapter on either Wednesday or Thursday_ since it's already typed out and just needs to be edited. So, I'm going to go get started on that... I hope you all enjoyed reading, and had a fun New Years Eve/New Years Day. I know I did sitting at home typing out this chapter and eating applesauce :) Lol I'm such a hardcore partier with my applesauce...**

**So, how do you guys think Bunny's going to react after Jack finishes telling him his side of the story?**


	13. The Painful Truth

**Forever**

Chapter 13: The Painful Truth

* * *

(_Flashback_)

The odd sensation of teleportation lingered a few seconds after Jack had stepped out of the magic portal. With his stomach still churning uncomfortably, Jack let out the large breath of air he had sucked in before teleporting. The winter spirit stumbled forward a bit to observe the exotic world around him, it wasn't everyday that he got to witness a beautiful place full of life. For the past three hundred years he had always been forced to remain in frigid temperatures in order to remain comfortable, or bring about winter weather wherever he traveled to. Everything was usually dead or dying with dull shades of colors, but everything in this place was vibrant and colorful.

The Warren was huge and the plant life was thriving in the hot sun that shined down heavily making Jack shift from foot to foot anxiously. Hopefully, he would be able to find Bunny and leave before he suffered too much in this intense heat. Usually it wasn't so bad for him when he visited the Pooka, but it must have been an extremely hot day in Australia which was unfortunate for the winter spirit.

"Uh, hello!?" Jack called as he turned in circles in hopes of finding the warrior rabbit or one of his eggs to help him. "Is anybody here!?"

There was no response, and Jack grunted in annoyance as the armful of objects he was carrying started to become heavy to his protesting arms. He repositioned the snow globe to fit into the crook of his left arm before using his left hand to take ahold of the boomerang. Twirling his staff around to flex his fingers, Jack then summoned the wind to take him soaring through the endless amount of tunnels and fields.

After a long hour of searching, the winter spirit decided to take a break and stopped near a small stream that was colored a dark pink. Setting everything down beside him, Jack leaned back and stretched out across the soft ground below him. As uncomfortable as the temperature was, it was still a peaceful and relaxing place to be after all the traveling he had been doing as of recently.

Feeling a little bored, Jack stretched one of his feet over the dyed water so that he could flick it with his toes. He was careful not to freeze the stream, making sure that his magic was in check until he finally pulled his foot out. It took him a moment as he sat up to realize that his foot had been colored pink, but with a simple thought the excess water on his foot froze along with the pink dye before he picked it off. It wasn't long before his pale foot was back to normal, and for the first time in a while Jack marveled at the larger chunks of colored ice that he had created.

A loud, irritated grumbling sound startled the winter spirit into awkwardly scrambling to his feet, but as he wheeled around to face the unexpected new arrivals, Jack relaxed slightly at the sight of three giant sentinel eggs. "Hey guys, so I was wondering if you could all show me where Bunny is because I really have to get going. It's way too hot here for my liking."

The neutral faces on the sentinel eggs turned to face each other before switching to their angry warrior faces in a blink of an eye. Before Jack could even begin to process what was happening the eggs were advancing on him. By pure instinct, Jack used his foot to fling his staff into the air where he grabbed it and began to fly away to safety. However, the sentinel eggs weren't about to give up, and even though Jack was extremely fast, they all had the advantage of surprise on their side. The one in the middle reached out with a long vine to grab firmly onto Jack's ankle who felt his heart plummet as he struggled to free himself only to swing upside down limply in the sentinel egg's hold.

His staff had been lost during his panicked flailing and was now too far out of reach to pick up again, but Bunny's boomerang wasn't and it looked like it was the only hope he had left at the moment. Stretching his fingers towards the warrior rabbit's weapon, Jack picked it up with a triumphant grin and held it out for the sentinel eggs to see.

"Look, I'm trying to return Cottontail's boomerang, so will you put me down already." If there was one thing Jack hated above most things it was being trapped, and if he didn't get released soon he knew this was not going to end well for everyone involved.

The sentinel eggs made croaked noises of surprise at seeing Bunnymund's treasured weapon, and Jack nearly let out a sigh of relief when the grip on his ankle began to tighten. Pale blue eyes widened in shock as the three enormous eggs began to angrily make booming noises in his direction which made his nervousness about this situation spike up again. Pulling slightly on his leg as an unconscious reaction to try to escape, Jack struggled to understand what had made them so upset, but he might as well have tried to understand the yetis garbled language.

"I-I don't understand? I'm doing Bunny a favor. What's wrong?" Jack hurriedly asked not wanting the sentinel eggs to become violent towards him.

The one holding him began to shake him, and Jack yelped as his body strained against the uncomfortable yanking sensation as he was tossed from side to side. Unable to take it anymore, Jack's eyes flashed cerulean in warning before he released a wave of icy energy, causing the sentinel egg that was holding him to drop him as frost crept up the vine wrapped around his ankle and halfway over it's stone body. The winter spirit hit the ground hard on his shoulder, and Jack winced as he scrambled towards where his staff was lying in the grass. The wind scooped him up protectively as soon as his fingers wrapped around the hooked shepherd staff, and he floated above the pink stream, eyeing the giant eggs warily.

"What was that all about? Do you guys not understand what it means to do someone a favor? I'm trying to help, not cause trouble or do a dumb prank or anything." Jack explained, hurt that the sentinel eggs didn't seem to trust him. Holding up the boomerang, Jack sighed as he showed it to the eggs before tossing it over their heads, watching with faint interest as it caught in the wind and was sent sailing to the other side of the field. "Fine, just make sure he gets that, I'm leaving."

"Bloody Groundhog! I'll teach ya not to mess with my Warren anymore!"

"... Uh, what?" The winter spirit asked no one in particular as he perked up a bit at hearing the Pooka's distinctive voice. Jack squinted as he searched across the enormous area in search of the warrior rabbit, but instead of the familiar grey fur ball popping into view, an extremely fast projectile was spinning towards him with deadly accuracy. If Jack didn't flinch away at the last second it would have hit him in the face, but instead it whacked into his ribs, knocking the breath out of him instantly.

Jack faltered in the sky while his icy eyes widened in shock as the pain began to spread throughout his body. It was unlike anything he had experienced before, and for a few seconds he found himself unable to even breathe, a strangled scream nearly tore itself from his lungs, but he held it at bay. There was no doubt in his mind that a few of his ribs were cracked or possibly even broken, and that thought scared him more than it should have. Against his will, Jack found himself acting like a cornered animal as his magic began to pour out of him and into his surrounding environment. No one even cared to watch Bunnymund's boomerang as it splashed into the stream below and out of sight as Jack retaliated back against the unexpected attack against him.

The stream froze instantly beneath him, and the sentinel eggs croaked in surprise as they were coated in a thick layer of ice. The grass stopped swaying in the harsh breeze as it was frozen in time, dying instantly along with the trees and other plants. The ice spread out for about a hundred yards, stopping just in front of the stunned Pooka who's ears flattened in disbelief at the sight before him.

"... Jack? Well crap, I thought ya were the Groundhog." Bunnymund breathed out before surveying the mess before him. "But why did ya... Why did ya do this, Frostbite?"

The tears forming in Jack's eyes weren't visible to the warrior rabbit from across the frozen field between them as he spat out. "You know what? I'm sick and tired of this! I've done nothing but try to help and all I get in return is... is this! I'm done, Kangaroo! Have fun cleaning up this mess!"

"Now wait just a bloody minute! What did I do!?" Bunnymund questioned as Jack's biting attitude began to make his fur bristle. The warrior rabbit leapt onto the solid sheet of ice and fought for balance as he scrambled closer to Jack.

The winter spirit waved his staff and sent a blast of frost towards the Pooka causing him to skid to a stop and barely avoid getting hit. "You know what you did, and I'm obviously not welcome here, so I'll be going. It's not like I wanted to be friends with a cocky, annoying kangaroo anyways."

"First off, I'm the freakin' Easter Bunny, mate! And second, I didn't exactly want to be friends with ya either! Look what I get in return for trying, you destroyed everything in this field! You're nothing but trouble, and this is what happens whenever I attempt to trust you with anything!"

"Shut up! You don't understand anything about me!" Jack snarled as the air buffeted him downwards towards where the magic snow globe was lying on the ground, covered in a thin layer of frost on one side. Thinking hard about the North Pole, Jack smashed the snow globe on the ground and leapt through without looking back once at the puzzled and frustrated Pooka.

The teleportation was not easy on his battered body, and Jack cried out in pain as he hit the snowy ground at the wrong angle, jostling his injured side. He was lying on the ground on top of the cliff opposite of North's place, the golden glow of the lights inside flickering as yetis hustled passed the windows. It wasn't the most interesting thing to do, but for a long time Jack simply rested in the snow, trying to ignore the harsh stabbing pain that threatened to consume him. The winter spirit was upset for a number of reasons. However, the main reason was that he had yelled at one of his best friends who probably didn't even realize what he had accidentally done to him. Still the stupid rabbit had probably damaged him badly enough that his side would take weeks to heal.

A few hours later when the fiery afternoon sun began to set, Jack slowly sat up in the snow and gripped his staff before weakly calling out. "Wind, can you take me home?"

A soft breeze nuzzled affectionately at Jack's face before carefully picking him up off the ground and carrying him in the direction of Burgess. Despite the wind's delicate care, the winter spirit couldn't help but hiss in pain at every slight jarring or unexpected movement. After two excruciatingly long and painful days of travel, Jack finally arrived at Burgess and couldn't deny the wave of happiness that washed out most of the hurt from the past few days. The happiness didn't last as long as he thought it would have with Pitch's sudden return, but it had been enough to keep him going.

Yet while all of these events were going on, Jack couldn't help but think that what Bunny had told him was true. Jack knew that he was nothing but trouble, bringing with him a wave of unintentional chaos in his wake wherever he went. For once, why couldn't he be like the other guardians and do something right for a change? Why did he always have to make such a mess of everything...

* * *

"Oh, so that's why..."

Silence filled the empty air between them as Jack's cerulean eyes flashed with annoyance in the darkness. "That's it? That's all you've got to say after all of that?"

"Calm down, Jack. I'm just thinkin' is all." Bunnymund tried to soothe the agitated spirit that was still perched on his staff a little distance away on the roof top.

How in the world was he going to make this up to him? First he had made the mistake of ordering his sentinel eggs to throw anyone out that made it into the Warren after the Groundhog attempted to sneak in multiple times during the summer season to irritate the Pooka. Then he had made the mistake of thinking Jack was the Groundhog and had injured him badly on accident. However, his worst mistake had been that he hadn't even tried to go after Jack to try to figure out why the winter spirit had acted the way he had. Instead he had over thought the entire incident and allowed his anger to fester inside of him, causing a rift to form between the two.

Glancing back towards Jack, Bunnymund had to fight back a wince at the way he noticed how obvious the winter spirit was in pain, and not just physically. The hurt the swirled within his cerulean eyes was enough to cause any prior aggressive thoughts towards the winter spirit to vanish in an instant. Lowering his ears until they were pressed flat against the back of his skull, Bunnymund let out a sigh before approaching the wary guardian. The warrior rabbit might as well have been attempting to get a frightened animal to trust him though as he saw Jack tense up, a fight or flight expression forming on his face.

"Listen, Jack, I don't know how else to phrase this, but I'm terribly sorry, mate. I... I honestly thought ya were the Groundhog. I should have checked before I threw that boomerang at ya, but I wanted to take him by surprise. That's why I also ordered the eggs to throw out any intruders. I never would have hurt ya intentionally, and I swear to ya that it won't ever happen again." Bunny glanced nervously up at Jack and hoped that he looked as guilty as he felt. It wasn't as if Jack's damage to the Warren had done anything permanent even though it would take a ton of work to get the plants and eggs healthy again. He had already forgiven Jack for doing what he had done, but nervousness pooled in his gut at the thought of Jack never forgiving him.

The snow finally started to fall, and the world around the two spirits almost seemed to brighten as the glistening snow swayed in the breeze. Bunnymund twitched and shivered as a snow flurry whipped over the roof, but he held his ground as he waited patiently for Jack's decision. All the previous agitation that had shown on the snowy haired immortal's face was gone now as he contemplated on whether or not to forgive the warrior rabbit.

"Did you really mean that?"

"What part?"

"That it won't happen again?" Jack asked warily, his cerulean eyes flashing with suspicion as he stared down at the shivering Pooka.

"I p-promise, mate." Bunnymund tried to say as serious and meaningful as possible as his teeth chattered in response to the cold. "I'm r-really s-sorry, I n-never meant to hurt ya. I-I'll never m-mistake you for the Groundhog a-again. I also said some things that I shouldn't have that day, but I didn't mean any of it. I really do trust ya, F-Frostbite."

The winter spirit gazed steadily at Bunnymund as if to see if he was lying before he finally sighed and looked down towards the icy sidewalks below. "It's okay, it's not all your fault, Bunny. In all honesty, I feel like I should be the one apologizing after what I did to your Warren. It's my fault that your home is ruined. It's just... I wasn't expecting you or your eggs to treat me so badly, and I... I just... I don't know, Cottontail." Jack tried to explain as he ran a hand through his snowy hair and began to raggedly breathe in the chilled outside air.

"It's a-alright, Frostbite. I don't b-blame ya for doing what ya d-did. I would have reacted b-badly too if ya had turned me into an ice s-sculpture without any warning." Bunnymund chuckled softly before his emerald eyes shined with worry. "So, are we d-done with all this arguing?"

Rolling his eyes, Jack expertly leapt off his staff and caught it in his hand on the way down before he smirked upwards towards the Pooka and agreed. "Sounds good to me, Cottontail. Now come on, let's get inside, we've got some kids to watch over."

"That sounds like a n-nice idea b-because it's absolutely f-freezing out here, no thanks to you, m-mate." The Pooka half heartedly complained as he shook one of his cold paws to get some feeling back into it.

"Your welcome," Jack grinned before he leapt off the edge the roof and landing on Jamie's windowsill before slinking inside the house with ease with Bunnymund right behind him.

The invisible wounds that their fight had torn open still had yet to heal, but at least they were now on the mend.

* * *

"So, you and Bunny are friends again?" Jamie questioned curiously as he exited the grocery store and shivered in his thick jacket as the cold air nipped at him.

Apparently, Sophie and his mom had forgot to pick up a few groceries that were on the list a few days ago and his mom had sent him to get them while she busily drove from place to place. Jamie's mother had a bunch of errands to run that morning and since they had gotten a snow day thanks to Jack, the chocolate haired boy was helping her out while Sophie stayed home with their father and Bunny.

They had already been out for a few hours, and if his mom had found the last place she had been searching for then they could finally go home. It would have been an awful beginning to such an awesome day since he had the day off of school, but luckily Jamie had Jack to keep him company. The winter spirit had really enjoyed the grocery store and had spent most of the time surveying the enormous selection of food that the place provided with undisguised amazement.

"Yeah, me and Cottontail are back to being friends somewhat." Jack answered vaguely like usual before he flipped onto his back in the air and floated on the wind beside him as Jamie continued down the sidewalk towards his mom's white car.

"That's a relief, I thought you two would never stop fighting." The chocolate haired boy half joked even though he had believed in those words just yesterday.

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that. The Kangaroo and I are always fighting with each other over something." The winter spirit told Jamie with a grin as his icy blue eyes shined with mischief.

"I know, but- Ahhh!" Jamie screeched as he slipped on a patch of ice that Jack had made the previous night. The bag groceries went flying through the air before it hit the ground, the purchased items sliding in various directions out of the bag. The winter spirit commanded the wind to release him as he crouched down to help Jamie back up before helping him find the scattered groceries. "Great, my mom's going to kill me."

"Why?"

"My water broke," The chocolate hair boy announced sadly as he held up the broken gallon of water as Jack struggled not to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Your water broke!" Jack chuckled in amusement as he fell backwards, clutching his side as he laughed on the snowy sidewalk until his injury began to ache painfully.

A cherry red blush crept onto Jamie's face as he bagged the rest of the items and began to hurriedly walk towards the car that was now in sight. Desperately trying to ignore the winter spirit who unrelentingly teasing him about what he had accidentally said, Jamie finally approached the car and stopped by the passenger door as his mom rolled down the window.

"Jamie, what took you so long?" His mother asked worriedly as Jamie opened the door and waited for Jack to float inside to the back undetected before he sat down and buckled his seatbelt.

"Sorry, the lines were insanely long at the check out area." Jamie explained as he glanced back to see Jack lounging comfortably across the back seat area.

"I know, waiting behind three people who only have a handful of groceries takes so long." Jack sarcastically agreed as Jamie rolled his eyes and turned back to face the front again. The real reason they had taken so long was that Jack had been extremely curious, and wanted Jamie to explain practically everything in the store.

Ignoring the winter spirit once again, Jamie leaned back in the seat and asked his mom. "So, did you find what you were looking for?"

Out of his peripheral vision, Jamie noticed his mother stiffen at the question before she collectively told him. "Yeah, I found it, it wasn't that hard actually."

"That's good." The chocolate haired teen commented, unsure of how to respond. "What was-"

"Is there anything you want me to pick up on the way home for lunch?" Jamie's mother interrupted much to Jamie and Jack's confusion before she continued to ramble on. "I'm going to be very busy this afternoon, so you're going to have to entertain your sister for me. However, you have to stay in the yard if you want to go outside, and no hanging out with your friends because you're still grounded until you're done with that report." Both of the boys noticed how strained his mother sounded as if her calm mood was about to shatter at any given moment.

The chocolate haired teenager chose not to question his mom any further as he quietly suggested. "Um... How about a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese on top?"

The entire ride home was tense much to Jamie and Jack's disappointment after all the arguing and fighting Jack and Bunny had just gone through. Something bad was about to happen, and both of the boys knew that it was inevitable from the way Jamie's mother was acting. Whatever the woman was hiding was going to be found out eventually, and it was not going to be pretty when it happened.

When they got home, Jack went to get the others while Jamie put the groceries away, trying to get rid of the sense of impending doom as his mother curled up on the couch and sipped on her cup of coffee she had ordered at the pizza place they had gone to. Everyone sat at the table as Jamie and Sophie hungrily devoured the pizza while Bunnymund and Jack bickered playfully with each other much to Jamie's amusement and relief. They tried to offer their mom a slice, but she just replied that she wasn't hungry as she turned on the television to watch some boring news station.

When they were finished, the four of them slipped outside to play in the snow since Jamie still owed his sister a snow ball fight. However, as soon as the door clicked shut, Jamie froze for a moment as he though he heard the faint sounds of his mother sobbing, but the noise ended almost as quickly as it had began. With a frown forming on his face, the teen continued onwards off the deck and into the yard wondering if he had just imagined it.

* * *

**A/N: Holy cow, this story has finally reached over 200 reviews... I'm so happy :D Thank you all so much! (I'll try to start responding to reviews again tomorrow)**

**... I'm so sorry this is so late, I kind of got a little side tracked towards the end of this week with COD 2 zombies, hanging out with my friend, and seeing Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D in dbox which was freaky and awesome! So, I made this chapter extra long again to make up for the lateness. This chapter was really hard to write for some reason and was killing me every time I attempted to edit it... However, the next chapter is finally the Florida trip which will be so much fun. I can't wait to start typing it out! _I'm guessing the next update will be on Wednesday or sooner._**

**So, what do you guys think is going on with Jamie's mom?**


	14. Pushing the Limits

**Forever**

Chapter 14: Pushing the Limits

* * *

The next morning, everyone was rudely awakened by Mrs. Bennett as she yelled into both her children's rooms for them to wake up and pack their suitcases. They were supposed to have done it the previous night, but the snow ball fight got a little out of hand when Jack suggested to make it into a competition. Jack and Jamie were on one team while Sophie and Bunny were on the other. Hours later, there was no real winners, but everyone was worn out and shivering from the cold except for Jack.

"Jamie, did you remember to pack your toothbrush, clothes, sunglasses, sunscreen-!"

"Yeah mom, I have everything!" Jamie called back grumpily. The drowsy teenager was so tired after waking up at four in the morning after only getting five hours of sleep. However, one look at Jack who was sprawled out over his bed with his eyelids cracked open as he fought to stay awake had Jamie rethinking that it could have been worse. Since Bunnymund had to watch over them while Jack was away, it was Bunny's turn to rest while the winter spirit had to remain vigilant all night. It was strange to see the winter spirit so tired all the time, but it must have his body's way of trying to heal itself.

"Are you going to be okay, Jack?" The chocolate haired teen whispered, not wanting his mom to hear in the other room where she was helping Sophie pack.

The winter spirit lethargically moved his head to the side towards Jamie before mumbling out. "I'm so tired."

The door burst open in that instant with Sophie proudly beaming over her tightly packed, zebra stripped suitcase. "I packed my suitcase! I even packed my coloring books and crayons, and they all fit! This is so much fun! We're going to Florida!" Both Jack and Jamie groaned at her over enthusiasm because it was way too early in the morning to be dealing with such a wide awake and hyper kid.

A well rested Bunnymund entered the room behind her and glanced over at Jack with an amused grin. "Ah, don't give me that pathetic look ya gumby. At least ya can sleep in the car on the way there."

"You're not tagging along with us on the car ride?" The winter spirit asked with as much surprise as he could muster which was nearly undetectable in his gravely, exhausted voice.

"Nah, I hate vehicles of any kind with a passion. North's sleigh especially." Bunnymund explained as he leaned against the doorway. "I'll just hop along side ya guys, it'll be a nice workout anyways."

"That's going to be a ton of hopping," Jamie commented as he stuffed a few of his books into his sports bag for the ride.

"Don't worry, this will be a piece of cake compared to Easter."

"Jamie! Sophie! Come on, you guys get in the car, we have to get going if we want to make it to grandma's house before dinner!" Mrs. Bennett called from downstairs.

"Okay mom!" Jamie yelled back as he zipped his suitcase shut and ushered Sophie out the door who was animately telling him everything she had packed by herself.

Jack groaned from where he laid on the bed, refusing to move for another few seconds until Bunnymund chuckled and suggested teasingly. "Ya know, if ya want I can carry ya to the car, Snowflake."

The winter spirit sent Bunnymund an icy glare which was the only warning the warrior rabbit got before Jack aimed his staff at him and sent a blast of frost his way. The pooka easily dodged and flashed Jack an amused grin before he hopped after the two kids.

"Argh, I already hate this trip," Jack complained to the empty room before he got up and trudged sluggishly after the others downstairs.

* * *

They decided to take a quick break half way through North Carolina at a gas station to pick up some snacks for the road and load the car up with some more gasoline. Within minutes Jamie, Jack, and Sophie were running up and down the aisles in the store, picking out as much junk food as possible while Bunnymund stopped to catch his breath outside.

"Hey Jamie, would you mind if I got a bag of Cheetos for the road?" Jack asked as he pointed at the large selection of the cheesy junk food.

"Sure no problem," Jamie told him as Jack handed him one before the chocolate haired teen followed after Sophie to purchase the small armful of items.

"I found twinkies, Jamie!" Sophie squealed, causing several people in the place to turn in their direction, making Jamie cringe in embarrassment.

"Nice, those are pretty hard to find now aren't they?" Jamie replied back as he placed everything on the cashier table, and waited to hand the gruff looking cashier the twenty dollar bill his mother had given him. Jack watched the exchange with mild interest, but his expression quickly lifted to undeniable happiness as Jamie sneakily handed him back the bag of Cheetos.

"Thanks," Jack breathed out as he opened the bag and grabbed a small handful of the cheesy treat. His icy eyes narrowed suspiciously though as he noticed that the color was a bit off, instead of the bright orange it was darker and had a slight reddish tint to it.

Shrugging his shoulders, Jack popped them into his mouth and began to follow the two kids out the door when he paused. Unlike last time which was enjoyable as much as it was unbearable to eat the delicious flavorful substance, his mouth felt like it was literally on fire. It burned and itched all the way down his throat, bringing tears to the winter spirit's eyes as he choked the rest of it down. Gasping for air afterwards, Jack gagged when he realized that it was only increasing the burning effect in his mouth and his hand wrapped around his throat as he fought off the terrible sensation.

"...Ja...mie..." He gasped out as the wind rushed into the store to comfort him and take him outside towards the others. A variety of products went sailing off the shelves much to the cashier's annoyance, and within seconds the entire floor was a mess. The noise of all the commotion though attracted Jamie's attention as he walked back from the car to see what had happened.

"Jack, what's-"

"Wha... ong... ith... these... Chee...tos!" Jack breathed out painfully as the spiciness attacked his poor taste buds.

Frowning, Jamie took the opened bag from Jack's hands and read the label before glancing up apologetically at the snowy haired teen. "Um... These are Flamin' Hot Cheetos."

Silence ensued between them until Jack finally swallowed thickly and cringed before asking. "There's... a difference?"

"Yeah, you see you had the normal type first which is my favorite, but this is the alternate spicy version." Jamie explained he walked over to a trash can to throw the bag of Cheetos away. Jack followed him, nodding in understanding as he cursed his bad luck mentally before Jamie presented him with another one of his purchased items. "Here, drink this, it should help."

Taking the strange, metal, cylindrical container from Jamie, Jack hesitantly brought it to his lips before taking a sip. Jack's eyes widened in shock before he roughly gave Jamie back his drink as he spat it out on the asphalt. "What was that!?"

"I'm guessing that you never had soda before either?

Jack couldn't respond as his body trembled in response to the prickling sensation on his tongue due to the caffeine along with the scorching feeling of the Cheetos that had yet to fade. Of course that was when Bunnymund decided to join them, a knowing smirk on his lips as he watched Jack attempt not to double over and dry heave.

"I tried to give some soda to help with the spiciness, but-"

"Oh, I know, mate. I watched the entire thing."

"I'm seriously... going to die... on this trip."

* * *

"We're almost to the hotel," Mrs. Bennett announced to her kids that were being unnaturally silent in the back. Jamie was zoned out reading a book about Bigfoot, and only gave a short sound of acknowledgement as he flipped to the next page. Meanwhile, Jack had managed to sprawl out across the backseat with his legs over Jamie's lap while his head rested in Sophie's lap. Sophie had enjoyed playing with his snowy hair the entire car ride and giggled as Jack twitched in his sleep.

"Ah! It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" Sophie gushed as she ran her hands through Jack's silky hair once more.

Jamie smiled and laughed quietly before telling his sister. "You've been watching way too many cartoons." The little blonde pouted at Jamie's comment and she elbowed her brother playfully before returning her attention back to Jack's hair. The winter spirit sighed contently as Sophie resumed her gentle head massage she had been giving him.

Deciding that it was time to wake Jack up, Jamie put his book down and shook one of Jack's thin legs that were on him. The winter spirit blinked slowly as he came to before he sat up in the middle seat between Sophie and Jamie. He stretched his arms and yawned before he slouched back in the car seat with a satisfied grin as the air conditioning from the front blew into his face.

"Have we made it to Florida yet?" The winter spirit questioned, feeling smug at the fact that the heat wasn't even bothering him as the fiery sun invaded the car through the windows.

Jamie nodded not wanting to talk out loud to Jack while his mom was present. The winter sprit's confidence level practically soared through the roof at the young teen's confirmation though as he leaned over Sophie to wave at Bunnymund who was racing alongside the car by the highway, just out of sight. He turned away just as Bunny sent him a worried look, the warrior rabbit's grey fur was streaked with sweat much to the Pooka's discomfort.

They pulled off the highway five minutes later and found their hotel shortly after which both Jamie and Sophie noticed to their excitement was a beachfront hotel by the ocean. Their mother pulled into the busy parking lot, and much to everyone's dislike they had to park the car far in the back which meant more walking distance in the heat. Jamie reached for the door handle, but paused to look at Jack who was staring at Jamie's hand with slight nervousness flickering in his cerulean eyes.

"You go ahead, Kiddo. I'll be right behind you." The winter spirit reassured the worried teen as he finally pushed the door open and stepped outside into the blistering heat of the the early afternoon sun. For a second, Jamie squinted against the bright light since he was used to the cloudy skies of Burgess which rarely had warm, sunny weather. He reached back into the car to pick up his green sports bag that held his books, paper, and art supplies before standing back to let Jack out.

"Are you sure about this?" Jamie asked quietly, wincing as the heat began to make him wish he was back in the comfort of air conditioning.

"...Yeah." Jack answered back, although his voice was lacking his usual confidence as the heat began to enter the open car.

"Our room is on the third floor and the room number is three hundred and eighteen. Jamie can you and your sister start carrying your suitcases up there? I'll carry everything else up in a second just let me get us the room key really quick. Make sure to keep an eye on Sophie though, I don't want her to wander off." Their mother told Jamie before she walked off to go find the front desk of the hotel.

"Hey Soph, grab your suitcase, we're going to go find our room, okay?" Jamie called to Sophie who was struggling to pull her heavy belongings out of the car. Jack helped by grabbing the other end and pushing it to the edge of the seat for her before he cringed away from the intense heat and went back into the safety of the cool car. Sophie was oblivious to Jack's dislike for the hot weather though and slammed her door shut before walking over to the other side of the car to stand next to Jamie.

Jamie opened his mouth to say something right as a hole appeared in the ground next to him and Bunnymund hopped out a second later with his whiskers twitching in annoyance. "Blimey, it's freakin' hot here today." He nose wiggled slightly as he sniffed the air. "Where's Frostbite?"

"In there, he hasn't gotten out of the car yet." Jamie informed the Pooka as they both leaned down to see Jack huddled up on the backseat of the car.

"What? Stop looking at me like that. I'll get out in a second." Jack huffed as he inched his way out of the car. The winter spirit's bare feet made contact with the hot asphalt, and he flinched in pain. The wind breezed past him as if sensing his discomfort, but it only made it worse for the winter spirit as the stifling hot air surrounded him. It was almost tolerable like he had imagined it, but as he breathed in his first breath of scorching hot air, Jack stilled and wished that he hadn't.

Unlike the Flamin' Hot Cheetos where only his mouth was on fire, this time his whole body practically screamed in pain. There was no way that he would be able to survive in these conditions for any long period of time, and he was pretty sure that the asphalt had burned the bottoms of his feet already as he stood there in shock.

"Hey Jack? Are ya alright, mate? Ya look like you're about to pass out there." Bunnymund commented as he took a step towards the shivering winter spirit.

Jack blinked slowly as he registered what Bunny had said before he glanced up at the Pooka. "Do you remember when I told you that I was going to enjoy going to Florida?"

"Yeah?" Bunnymund prompted, carefully watching the other guardian as the frost patterns on his sweatshirt began to revert back to water.

"I was lying, I'm not going to enjoy this at all, Cottontail." The winter spirit confessed as his legs buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

Bunnymund's emerald eyes flashed with horror as he hurriedly scooped up the barely conscious spirit off the pavement and quickly asked Jamie what their room was. The chocolate haired teen had a similar expression of panic on his face as he watched Jack struggle to breathe in the blistering hot environment.

"Three eighteen, it's on the third floor," Jamie explained quickly before Bunny rushed off to find the room to get Jack into a cool air conditioned environment.

* * *

By the time Mrs. Bennett had reached the third floor, she was panting from rushing up the crazy amount of stairs to get to her kids as fast as possible. Quickly turning the corner down another hallway, she frowned in concern as she observed Jamie pacing frantically in front of the door while Sophie sat on the floor looking like she was trying not to cry. Her confusion only heightened when the two saw her walking towards them and their expressions became filled with a mixture of relief and apprehension.

"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly as the two huddled near the door as if they were going to bolt inside as soon as she opened it. "Are you two really that excited to go inside and see our room?"

The two of them nodded in unison not trusting their voices at the moment while their mother shook her head at their odd behavior and fit the card key into the slot by the door handle. A faint beep sounded as the door unlocked, but as soon as Mrs. Bennett had opened the door Sophie sprinted into the room, dropping her fuzzy, purple purse on the ground as she left the hallway in a hurry.

Jamie paused to pick up the purse before he turned to wheel both the medium sized suitcases into the room as he mumbled under his breath. "This vacation is going to be a nightmare."

The boy slipped inside the room and gasped at something, leaving Mrs. Bennett to assume that the room probably looked amazing if both her kids were already in shock at it's appearance. However, she couldn't help but curiously wonder about Jamie's mumbled statement as she opened the door the rest of the way to enter the room. Since when did both her kids hate Florida so much?

* * *

**A/N: Well, I typed this out faster than I thought I would... Thanks for the crazy amount of reviews as always, and all the favorites and follows :)**

**I don't know if I'm going to split the next chapter into two or not, but I guess we'll see soon enough. I'm so excited because this story is almost to the last stretch of Forever where I got my inspiration for writing this story. Only three more chapters to go before all the craziness ensues! _I'm guessing the next update will be on either on Wednesday or Thursday._  
**

**So, how do you guys think Jack is going to survive the Florida trip?**


	15. The Wonders of Air Conditioning

**Forever**

Chapter 15: The Wonders of Air Conditioning

* * *

"I'll be right back with the rest of our stuff. Stay in this room, and don't open the door for anyone."

"We know, mom." Both Jamie and Sophie replied back in unison.

A slight smile formed on the woman's lips as she backed out of the room and pulled the door closed. For a few seconds no one said anything until the sound of Mrs. Bennett's footsteps faded out down the hall. Then both the kids ran to the bed were the winter spirit was lying spread eagle on his back and panting for oxygen.

"Is he going to be alright, Bunny?" Jamie asked as he watched Jack slowly move his lidded gaze to focus unsteadily at each of them.

The Pooka was hovering over the side of the bed opposite of Jamie and Sophie, and his emerald eyes were narrowed as he tried to conjure up a better solution for their friend who looked like he was going to melt. All the frost that had formed on his clothing was beginning to revert back to water at an alarming rate, and Jack's skin was drenched in what looked like sweat but was probably melting frost as well. The winter spirit's chest rose and fell quickly as he hyperventilated as if to take comfort in the somewhat cooler air in the room.

The air conditioner must have turned off hours ago though, and the room was steadily increasing in temperature as the seconds ticked by.

"Do we have anything cold we can use, mates?" Bunnymund finally asked as he glanced over to the other two with the expression of hopelessness flashing across his face.

"I don't think we do. Well, we did have some popsicles in the cooler, but Sophie and I ate them all." Jamie supplied, wincing when he couldn't come up with anything useful.

"We can fan him with our hands?" Sophie suggested with a bright smile before she began to wave her hands by Jack's face. The winter spirit gazed over at the blonde and chuckled weakly at her efforts, amused at the determined expression on her face.

Bunnymund sighed and sat back on his haunches, rubbing his furry hand over his face as he tried desperately to think of something and fast.

"Maybe..." Jamie began as he glanced quickly around the room only to have a look of disappointment flash across his face when he didn't see what he was looking for. "Never mind, apparently we don't have a refrigerator in our room."

"I already tried to use it, but it's fastened onto the wall over there." The Pooka informed the chocolate haired teenager as he pointed to the miniature device in the corner of the room by the television stand. It was less than two feet tall, and when Jamie walked across the room and knelt down on the floor to open it, he figured out that it wasn't even working. The stale room temperature air breezed out of the mini refrigerator and blew gently into Jamie's face.

"There's got to be something," Jamie told everyone determinedly as he turned back to take in the sight of the upset Pooka, a miserable Jack Frost, and his little sister who was still unrelentingly fanning the winter spirit.

"All I know is that if don't act soon Frostbite is going to be a melted puddle within minutes." Bunnymund said gravely as his ears flopped back against his head.

Jamie's head hung low as he stared down at the ugly magenta carpet at his feet thinking calmly about this situation for a few moments before he looked up and observed the room. There were two king sized beds with a small nightstand in between them, the broken mini fridge, a tiny bathroom, and the flat screen television set. They didn't really have much to work with...

"We could always throw him in the bathtub and turn the water on cold?" Jamie suggested lamely watching as Jack gave him a pathetic, deadpanned look.

"Jamie, come over here and help me fan him." Sophie commanded, looking pleased as Jamie did what she said and started fanning him.

"Even if we did put him in the bathtub, my mom is going to come back up soon and what will she think if she sees Sophie and I doing that." Jamie sighed, as he continued to flap his arms. "Is this even helping you?"

"Not really... it's funny... to watch though." Jack wheezed with a slight smirk.

Throwing his hands up into the airs, Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried hard not to imagine his mom walking back to the hotel room. He needed to keep a clear mind and simply think of possibilities to help cool Jack down.

"If all else fails, I could always- Arghhhh! Oh Nelly! What in bloody heck is-?" Bunnymund complained as something whirled to life behind him and blasted into his thick fur.

The other three watched as Bunnymund jumped out of the way and landed beside Jamie and Sophie before their gazes drifted back to what had startled the warrior rabbit. All at once their eyes light up like kids on Christmas morning after seeing the presents under the tree. It was the air conditioning unit that was attached to the wall. The worn out looking device puffed out cool wafts of air out at the room occupants until finally they all sprung into action.

Within seconds both Bunny and Jamie were helping Jack get off the bed - who had gone as limp as a noodle - and onto the floor. The three of them slowly sat down with their backs resting against the bed and let the cool air blast into their faces. The winter spirit groaned as the sudden movement caused the room to spin, and Jamie and Bunnymund quickly scooted over so that they were pressed up on either side of the winter spirit to keep him upright. Sophie crawled up on the bed behind them to watch them with a curious expression on her face.

"Is that better, Frostbite?"

Jack nodded, unable to speak as the chilling breeze continued to bring him down to his normal temperature. It was like a tiny slice of heaven in the center of hell.

Jamie reached forward to turn the nob on the air conditioning unit to the maximum amount of cold it could produce and cranked the output of air to max as well. Within seconds both he and Bunnymund were shivering like crazy while Jack sighed in relief and began to laugh.

"W-What's s-so funny?" Jamie chattered through his teeth, hating how his coffee colored eyes watered against the blasting gusts of frigid air.

"I don't know, just... the fact that you guys are willing... to freeze to death to save me." Jack answered honestly as his eyes flashed cerulean for a second. "By the way... thanks for the save back there, Cottontail."

"Don't mention it, mate. Just don't give me another heart attack like that ever again and I'll be happy."

They stayed that way for several minutes, all of them observing the winter spirit beginning to show immediate signs of a recovery as frost began to collect on him and his clothes once again. However, Bunnymund flinched as some of the frost began to travel onto his fur, and Jamie yelped in surprise as some of it crawled along his bare arm. They both gave him a look before they scooted away from him and the air conditioner and onto the bed where it was warmer.

"Aw, can't... take the cold?" Jack teased as he leaned his head back to stare at the three on the bed.

"Hey, at least we can last a longer in the cold than ya can in the heat, Frostbite." Bunnymund pointed out with a triumphant edge to his voice.

Jack opened his mouth to begin playfully arguing again with the Pooka when the door suddenly opened and Mrs. Bennett dumped the rest of their luggage onto the other bed. "I really hope they get that elevator working by the time we leave." She complained to herself until she glanced over to where her kids were huddled on the bed. "Oh my goodness, it's freezing in here! Are you two really that warm?"

Both Jamie and Sophie shared a look before they nodded in affirmation to what their mother had assumed.

Shaking her head back and forth in disbelief, Mrs. Bennett moved back to the door and opened it up before telling her kids. "Okay, but can you turn it off so that it doesn't start snowing in our room by the time we get back. We've got to go to grandma's house now, so take what you need and let's get going."

Sophie easily snatched up her fuzzy purple purse and scurried to where her mom was while Jamie whispered to Jack about how to turn the air conditioner back on before he turned the device off. Walking over to join his family the chocolate hair boy's eyes widened as he found Bunny standing beside his mom and sister.

"I'm going with ya two while Jack recovers in here. Who knows if Pitch decided to take this little trip with us."

Jamie nodded slightly in understanding and waited for everyone to to leave the room before casting Jack one last worried glance before slipping out into the hallway.

* * *

A few hours had gone by as Jack sat in the hotel room by himself. The air conditioning unit kept turning off, but the winter spirit persistently continued to turn it back on whenever it did. He wasn't taking any chances of letting the room get too warm before the others got back. However, when they did Mrs. Bennett frowned at how cold the room had gotten, and Jack's icy eyes widened in panic when he noticed that most of the objects in the room had a slight layer of frost on them. In all honesty, he never even remembered allowing that much of his magic to be released into the room.

"What on Earth?" The woman mouthed before she turned back around to speak to her kids. "Are you sure you turned the air conditioner off, Jamie?"

"Yeah mom, I swear I did." Jamie replied back honestly.

"Because it's absolutely freezing in here," Mrs. Bennett complained as she stepped towards the wooden television stand and ran her fingertips along the trail of frost that had gathered on it. "I think it actually did snow in here."

"So mom, Sophie and I were wondering if we could still go play on the beach tonight like you promised?" Jamie suggested as he stepped into the room and glanced over towards the air conditioner. To his relief, he saw Jack sitting cross-legged on the bed looking like he was back to his normal self.

"Okay, but don't stay out too late, I want you two back in before it gets too dark." Mrs. Bennett agreed before she turned back around to start unpacking her suitcase. "But first, can you two grab the food and presents that grandma gave us, I left it in the car by accident."

"Okay," Jamie answered as he took the keys from his mom and took Sophie's hand to lead her back out into the hallway where Bunny had been waiting.

The three padded down the hallway and out of sight, and Jack could only watch in confusion as the woman slowly sat down on the multicolored bedsheets and crumble to pieces before him. Within seconds, muffled sobs sounded past her hands that covered the agony on her face as she began to weep over some sort of tragedy that had befallen her.. Instantly, Jack was at her side not sure of what to do, he knew that if he tried to touch her then he would simply pass through her.

"I-I can't d-do this," The depressed woman breathed out unsteadily as she continued to openly cry in front of Jack who watched with wide concerned eyes. "I t-thought these kind of things w-would get easier over time, but it isn't."

"What things?" Jack questioned curiously as his eyebrows furrowed in concern not truly expecting an answer.

"How in the w-world am I going to tell my kids. They'll never u-understand, or maybe they will. They're both s-smart kids, but what if they d-don't understand. I l-love them too much to be separated from them, b-but I just want what's b-best for them, and I want them to be h-happy."

Mrs. Bennett sniffed as she gazed up from where her face had been covered by both her hands that trembled under the weight of emotion that was eating her up on the inside. Bleak, watery, chocolate eyes surveyed the contents of her suitcase distractedly before she finally choked out.

"Breaking the news to my m-mother was bad enough, but how c-can I tell my own kids that I'm getting a divorce?"

The question hung in the air as the woman waited in the silence as if the answer would come to her before she finally got up and went into the bathroom to collect herself for when Jamie and Sophie got back.

Little did she know that Jack Frost was in the room listening to the woman think out loud her terrible dilemma. The winter spirit remained crouched on the bed with his jaw hanging open in pure shock and dread. It was bad enough that Pitch was going after the boy, but now he had yet another guillotine dangling above his head, ready to fall at any moment.

With this new piece of information, Jack wondered what he should do. There was no way that he would be able to tell the boy himself, but would he be able to keep it a secret from him until his mother confessed what was going to happen. Feeling uneasy, Jack barely acknowledged the fact that the other three had come back to the room until they began to drag him forcefully towards the door.

A large, unknowing grin was stretched across Jamie's face as he enthusiastically told Jack. "The sun's almost down and the temperature outside is getting cool again. Come on, this is going to be awesome!"

None of them noticed the way Jack's expression lightened in an instant to mask the sorrow that had become etched across his face. As Jack allowed himself to be uncharacteristically carried away without protest, he felt his heart beat uncomfortably in his chest as he watched Sophie and Jamie giggle and laugh at something funny Bunny had accidentally done earlier while he was at the hotel. Why did bad things always have to happen to himself and those he around him?

* * *

Jamie wasn't lying when he told Jack that the temperature had gone from scorching hot to moderately cool within a few short hours. It was still a bit too warm for Jack's liking, but at least he didn't feel like he was about to collapse from heat stroke again. Not to mention, now that the weather had taken a turn for the better, Jack could finally get some exercise outside with everyone else. Probably everyone that knew him would assume automatically that he hated the beach, but in reality the winter spirit loved the beach for one big reason.

He loved trying to freeze the waves.

For a long time Jack surfed on top of the water, hollering with joy as he released bursts of frost from his staff from time to time. Giant chucks of ice were pushed by the waves up onto the beach where Bunnymund, Jamie, and Sophie were watching him have fun with fascinated looks on their faces. Currently, Jack was using one of the larger pieces of ice that he had made as a makeshift surfboard, and was steadily approaching where the others were relaxing close to the shore on the wet sandy incline.

"This is awesome! Come on you guys, have some fun and get into the water!" Jack shouted as wobbled a bit on his ice board. Thankfully, the wind nudged him back into place to help him maintain his balance.

"Sophie and I are trying to build a sandcastle, we'll get in the water after we're done!" Jamie yelled back before he returned to building up the sloppy mound of wet sand that was going to be a sandcastle.

"Cottontail, how about you and I ride some waves together then!?" Jack asked the Pooka who was lying on his back and dozing off by the two kids.

"Nah, I'm gonna stay right here and enjoy myself." The warrior rabbit replied grumpily.

Jack's icy eyes narrowed, and if Jamie hadn't looked up to see why the winter spirit had gone silent he never would have seen his mischievous grin that he was giving the oblivious rabbit. Curiously, the chocolate haired teenager watched as Jack reached the shore and tapped the hooked end of his staff to the sand. Frost slithered across the ground until it reached underneath the Pooka and create a slick path that lead towards the hunger waves that lapped eagerly at the shore. Both Jamie and Sophie watched as Bunnymund began to slid towards his doom, and with a jolt the warrior rabbit tried to scramble away, but found that he was unable to do so on the frictionless ice.

"Frostbite! I'm gonna kill ya!" Bunnymund threatened as he continued his pointless efforts to escape, and within seconds he had slipped into the water and was waist deep in the ocean. Wet fur clung to his lean form as he crawled back onto the beach to shake the water off. "That's it, I'm gonna wrangle ya up and make ya regret ever messing with me." Bunnymund growled as he shook as much water as he could off his drenched body.

Meanwhile, Jack was laughing so hard that he was holding onto his midsection while his cerulean eyes flickered up to watch the Pooka's twitch in irritation. "I-I didn't think... that would... actually work."

"You're so dead, mate." The Pooka told the winter spirit flatly as he prepared to give chase when Jamie suddenly spoke up and interrupted his revenge filled thoughts.

"Hey look you guys, there's dolphins out there!" The chocolate haired teenager pointed out towards the ocean where a few of them leapt gracefully out of the water, squeaking loudly as they played with each other.

Wonder filled Jack's cerulean eyes as he observed the beautiful creatures before he summoned the wind to take him out over the ocean to get a closer look. The other three on the beach watched with interest as the winter spirit quickly made some new aquatic friends, and even convinced them to come closer to the beach for the others to see. Jamie and Sophie were given brief rides by the dolphins much to their delight, and Bunnymund shook his head back in forth in shock at the unexpected turn of events.

With a reluctant smile stretching across his fuzzy face as he continued to watch the kids have fun, Bunnymund wondered if it was possible for Jack to ever stop surprising them.

* * *

**A/N: You guys are so amazing, thank you so much for the crazy amount of reviews last chapter :D The chapter was mostly inspired by the last time I went to Florida on a school trip. Outside it was freakishly hot, but inside the hotel we were staying at was freezing cold... **

**(The story about why this chapter was late) (Sorry, I couldn't help myself...)**

**... Well a few days ago I was on Youtube watching some Jack Frost amvs while I was putting together the final touches to chapter 15 and of course I happened to get a commercial about Warm Bodies... I'm beyond obsessed with R now and I'm probably going to end up writing some fanfics about Warm bodies in the near future. I even got the book and read it in less than a day. Now it's my absolute favorite book and I can't stop rereading it, but I can't believe that I'm obsessing over a zombie/human romance lol. I highly encourage you guys to go check it out though, it's so cute and funny :) _Anyways, I'm starting college again this week so expect about maybe 1 to 2 updates a week from now on... _**

**So just out of curiosity, who are your two favorite characters from ROTG?**


	16. Falling for a Trap

**Forever**

Chapter 16: Falling for a Trap

* * *

The rest of the Florida trip was similar to the first day's events besides Jack passing out from the heat. The winter spirit was content to remain in the hotel room at all times while the others went out and had fun without him. It didn't bother him too badly, but at the same time he wished that he could have joined them instead of being cooped up in a small room for hours on end. The only enjoyable part had been when two cleaning ladies had come in and he had pranked them badly enough that they left the room in a hurry.

It was later during the second day of the vacation that Jack finally was forced to do something that he really did not want to do. Go back outside into the heat. Jamie's mom was packing up their possessions and souvenirs while Jamie and Sophie played on the beach one last time. So, when Bunnymund came inside the room to announce that they were leaving soon, Jack wasn't too surprised, but he still refused to leave the room just yet.

"Come on, mate. Now's the best time for ya to get in the car, it'll be harder for ya later when the kids get in." The warrior rabbit urged the reluctant snowy haired teen to move, but Jack shook his head and refused to move away from the wonderful air conditioner.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna stay here until the sun goes down. I'll be alright, and besides I can always fly back to Burgess."

Bunnymund sighed. "As much as I would love to leave ya here, I can't. You're getting in that car, and that's final."

Jack's icy eyes narrowed as he challengingly replied back with. "Make me."

The winter spirit was captured in less than thirty seconds, and was man handled all the way to the Bennett family's vehicle. Although, in Jack's defense, he couldn't really put up much of a fight after ten seconds in the scorching heat. Bunnymund found himself struggling not to laugh at the weak glare the winter spirit was giving him as he quickly went limp in his arms when the heat finally effected him.

A few minutes later, Jamie and Sophie arrived at the car with wet hair and bodies after swimming in the ocean. They opened the car doors and were surprised to see Jack passed out in the back seat, and awkwardly had to move him in order to fit into the car comfortably. They ended up much like before with Jack's head resting in Sophie's lap while his legs were sprawled out across Jamie's. The two siblings weren't too worried about the winter spirit suffering from the heat though because as soon as their mom got into the car she blasted the air conditioning, and soon the inside of the car turned into a cool refrigerator temperature.

By the time they had arrived back at Burgess it was extremely late, and the streets were completely vacant. There weren't even any late night pedestrians strolling around which was unusual, but the Bennett family was far from caring about that at this point. The three people were exhausted and made a beeline to their bedrooms as soon as they got into the house. Jack and Bunny were the only ones that decided to remain awake though, curious about why the town appeared to be so dead.

"I'll go, mate. Ya stay here and watch after the little ones while I investigate and see what's going on."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Bunnymund answered with a determined gleam shining in his emerald eyes. "Besides I'm a far better tracker than most. Even better than that bloody greyhound that lives here."

"Alright, I'll catch you later then, Cottontail." Jack told Bunny before he flew to Jamie's window and crept inside.

The Pooka made sure that Jack was in the house before he took off across the town, searching for any signs that explained the unnatural silence that enveloped the entire town Burgess.

* * *

The warrior rabbit bounded down the empty streets, scanning carefully for any type of normal human activity and finding none. Maybe it had been a mistake to have gone with the Bennett family to Florida? Apparently, Pitch had been content enough to stay here and cause mischief while Bunny and Jack had been away.

With a frown, the Pooka leapt up to peer inside a few of the windows to observe a few children who were fast asleep in their beds. A jolt of alarm past through his lean form as his emerald eyes focused in on the nightmare sand swirling around their heads. He was careful not to be seen by any of the fearlings, not wanting Pitch to be aware of his presence just yet as he went from house to house only to see similar results. Bunnymund's heart pounded painfully in his chest upon seeing the children's pained expressions as they whimpered in fear.

It was obvious to Bunny now that Pitch had expected them to go with Jamie and Sophie, and had used his time wisely to build back his once shattered power. The children were now beginning to believe in the Boogeyman once again.

A loud whinny tore Bunnymund from his thoughts as he hopped towards where the noise had came from. He arrived just in time to see a nightmare's wispy tail disappear down an abandoned alleyway, and Bunnymund hurried after it to watch where it was going.

The dark horse sniffed the air, it's nostrils flaring as it's crimson gaze searched for something. Bunnymund held his breath, hoping that the creature wouldn't turn around and see him stalking it from behind. Then the fearling went still as if it finally realized something. With a shrill shriek it whipped it's head around to stare at the startled Pooka before it took off down the street. Bunnymund shook his head to clear the brief flood of panic that had filled his mind before he reached back to grab a boomerang and give chase.

The nightmare lead him to the forest where the darkness intensified under the shady cover of the trees. Bunnymund found himself relying on his nose more than his eyes as he followed the fresh scent that reeked of death and decay. It was just far enough away that he wouldn't be able to stun it with one of his boomerangs which frustrated the rabbit into speeding up even faster. He needed to stop it in time before it alerted Pitch of their return.

Just as they made it into a small clearing, the nightmare screeched an unearthly wail before it jumped into a hole in the ground. The fearling's body crumbled upon impact with the outer edges of the hole, and the remains of it's body that broke off slithered down to follow it.

Bunnymund let out a growl of frustration and lowered his boomerang as the remaining pieces of the nightmare sand disappeared from sight. There was no way he was going to go down there without backup. Unlike Jack who would be unwilling to give up at a time like this, Bunnymund new instinctively that it would be no better than walking into a perfectly set up trap. It would be wiser for him to simply let it go and fall back to discuss his findings with the winter spirit before deciding on what plan of action to take.

Turning to race back to Jamie's house, Bunnymund stole one last glance back at the place where Pitch had vanished all those years ago when they had first defeated him. It looked like the Boogeyman had managed to crawl out of his own grave once again to wreck havoc on the guardians, but at least this time they could finally bring the fight to him instead of the other way around.

However, as he bolted away from the eerie forest, Bunnymund failed to notice the set of piercing, golden eyes that watched his retreating form.

* * *

Bunnymund cautiously stuck his head of the rabbit hole he had connected to Jamie's room to search for the winter spirit he had left here. "Frostbite?" He whispered tentatively, not wanting to wake up the tired boy that was fast asleep on the bed.

Something shifted in the room, and Bunny's emerald eyes snapped in that direction where a lanky form was standing up from where they had been sitting against the wall. "Hey, Cottontail. Why are you back so early?" The sound of Jack's voice set the Pooka at ease a bit after what he had just witnessed even though he wouldn't admit that to anyone in a million years.

"I found something, mate." Bunnymund replied as he hopped out of the hole, and tapped the ground to make it disappear without a trace. "I think I figured out where Pitch has been hiding."

Icy blue eyes widened at the warrior rabbit's announcement, and with a grin Jack leapt up onto the windowsill and swung his staff over his shoulder. "That's great! What are doing waiting around here then? Let's go get him and finish this once and for all!" The snowy haired immortal whisper yelled as his excitement over the news rippled through him.

Bunnymund scoffed as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "No, we have to stay put until we can make sure that the kids are gonna be safe while we're gone. We can't afford to do anything reckless right now."

"We can get Sandy to watch over them for us, he should be stopping by to check on us soon anyways." Jack suggested, unable to let go his new sense of urgency to find the Nightmare King as soon as possible. Bunnymund was internally thankful that it had been him that had gone out instead of Jack because he knew the gumby wouldn't have been able to stop himself from leaping into the ground after the nightmare.

"I think Sandy is going to be a little busy with the other ankle biters when he gets here, but that does sound like a better plan." Bunnymund relented a bit, but still sounded uneasy about leaving the kids to go charging off into who knows what. "Maybe we should use that candy cane that North gave ya instead?"

Jack rolled his eyes as he took out the average sized, hooked, peppermint candy from the front pocket of his hoodie and showed it to the Pooka. "No, because what if it's a false alarm? Unless you're perfectly okay with dealing with North's rage if it ends up that way then by all means, go ahead."

"Why does it have to be so close to Christmas?" Bunnymund muttered in frustration before he faced Jack again. "Fine, let's go with your plan. Whenever Sandy comes by we'll go investigate, but until then we have to stay here, understood."

"Sounds good to me, Cottontail."

"We'll talk about this more tomorrow," The warrior rabbit told Jack as he made his way towards the door to go to Sophie's bedroom. He paused just beforehand though to glance back at the winter spirit who was sliding back down to sit beneath the windowsill. Jack winced and reflexively clutched at his injury, and Bunnymund couldn't help but lower his ears back guiltily at the sight. "Get some rest, Frostbite. I'll stay on the lookout for tonight."

Jack's cerulean eyes snapped up in surprise to meet Bunnymund's emerald ones before the Pooka looked away and opened the door. "You sure?"

Bunnymund didn't feel it necessary to respond back and he left without another word as he went to check on the little blonde across the hall. However, he felt a smile tug at his lips as his advanced hearing picked up on Jack's sigh of relief before the winter spirit presumedly collapsed on the sleeping bag that was still strewn across the floor in front of him. The warrior rabbit knew that Jack would need to recover more before they could face off against Pitch because they couldn't afford to lose this time.

* * *

The next day was the laziest day for Jack since he could remember. Jamie was busy with schoolwork, Sophie was helping her mom bake chocolate chip cookies, and Bunny was scouting around the house looking for something. No one was willing to do anything fun, and Jack couldn't remember a time in his long immortal life where he had been so bored.

Reclining back to nap on the cushy sofa in the Bennett's living room, Jack found himself easily nodding off to sleep once more. Between the last few days his body had been recovering at an extremely fast rate, and as long as he didn't do anything to irritate his injury then it was nothing more than a dull, annoying ache.

With a few more naps Jack was confident that he would be fully healed which made him even more hopeful for what was to come. With he and Bunny at full power against Pitch nothing could go wrong. They would be able to beat the Nightmare King so easily that the coward wouldn't be able to show his face for the next hundred years. Smiling at the thought, Jack slowly lost consciousness and his breaths evened out as his body relaxed into the soft furniture.

What he didn't realize was that the house was slowly warming up due to Mrs. Bennett turning up the thermostat earlier and the scorching hot, running oven. However, Jack was blissfully unaware of the danger though as he drifted off to sleep, all feeling and thoughts disappearing as the seconds ticked by. It was like a frog waiting in a cool pot of water unaware that the burner was on below it and it was slowly getting cooked to death until it was too late.

* * *

**A/N: This story almost has 300 reviews... I wish I could hug every single one of you guys for all the support you've given me these past 2 months :)**

**Yay, quick update! We're almost to the final stretch now which begins in the next chapter where things will really kick off. I have a feeling that a lot of you are going to freak out after I upload the next chapter so prepare yourselves! I wanted to upload this chapter before I started my college classes tomorrow because I wasn't sure if I would be slammed with homework or not and I didn't want everyone to wait all week for another chapter. _I'll try to have the next chapter uploaded by Sunday or sooner._**

**So, what do you guys think is going to happen next chapter?**


	17. The Beginning of the End

**Forever**

Chapter 17: The Beginning of the End

* * *

By the time the sun had almost set in the horizon, Jamie was still nowhere near finishing the last parts of his research project. The past few hours had all felt like a huge waste of time, and he is forced to fight the urge to groan pathetically as thinks about it. Why couldn't he just figure out how to end his speech already? It only has to be six easy, simple sentences at the minimum, yet he couldn't think of anything that could end the paper properly.

Dropping the pencil onto his desk while he released a frustrated sound from the back of his throat, Jamie finally acknowledged the headache that had been building up over the past couple hours. Maybe he could take a break and relax for a while then ask Jack to help him later. Even if the spirit couldn't come up with anything, then at least he could have someone to share his misery with.

With this thought in mind, the young teen got to his feet and stumbled downstairs as he came back to terms with reality and away from the relentless nagging research facts that swarmed around in his thoughts. The strong smell of freshly baked cookies was overpowering as he reached the downstairs, and even though it was an extremely pleasing scent the whole downstairs was uncomfortably hot. Jamie frowned at the intense heat, already planning to grab a few cookies and run back upstairs to his nice and cold room where he had thankfully left the window cracked open.

"Mom? Mom!?" Jamie called hoping for a response, so he could figure out why it was abnormally hot in the house. He waited a few seconds and looked around for any sight of his mother, but found and heard no reply. It looked as if his mother and Sophie might have left for a couple hours and he had the whole place to himself.

Grabbing a handful of the chocolate chip cookies off the serving plate in the center of kitchen table, Jamie walked around the corner to check the thermostat and raised an eyebrow at how high his mom had set the temperature gauge to. Carefully balancing the cookies in one hand, he switched it back to it's normal reading before turning to go back upstairs.

In the long run he realized that it was a very crucial for Jack to have unconsciously voiced his discomfort then and there, but for a terrifying few seconds Jamie could only stare in horror at the obviously overheated winter spirit. Instead of the pale skin he was used to seeing, Jamie noticed that every inch of visible flesh had begun to turn the pinkish hue of normal skin color. Not to mention, that Jack practically looked like he was melting on his sofa due to the wet shine that was spread across his face, and what looked like water that had soaked through parts of his clothes, and his plastered snowy hair that clung to his scalp.

"J-Jack?" Jamie mouthed in horror before finally coming to terms with how serious this situation really was. "Jack!?"

In a heartbeat, the chocolate haired teen had bounded over to the winter spirit's side and began shaking his shoulder, praying for some sort of response. He got his wish a few seconds later as the winter spirit's startling sapphire eyes opened for a half a second before closing again. The action however was too much for Jack to manage at this point and he groaned once more in agony.

"Argh, why is it so hot?" Jack practically whined as he weakly slapped at the cushions on the couch before he mumbled out. "I thought we... left Florida already."

"Jack, what are you doing in here!?"

Jack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion before he attempted to open his eyes and glance at his surroundings. "What do you mean? Shouldn't I be here, protecting you?"

"No, no that's not what I-," Jamie started then stopped as he let out a small exasperated sigh due to the amount of bad luck that had piling up on him as of recently. "What I meant was, why did you stay in the living room when it feels like a hundred freaking degrees?"

For a second Jack didn't react, unable to comprehend what his friend was telling him until he understood the awful meaning of his words and panicked. Jack flailed as he tried to get off the sofa and get away from the painful warmth of the house, but his body wasn't obeying him any longer and he landed gracelessly on the floor in a heap by Jamie.

The young teen jumped in surprise at Jack's unexpected attempt to flee from the living room, and flinched in sympathy as Jack landed with a painful thud on the ground in front of him.

"I-I took a nap, and I didn't realize," Jack gasped out as he struggled to breathe in the coarse, dry air of the house. "Jamie, I need to.. get outside." With that, his eyes rolled back into his skull and the winter spirit lost consciousness.

"Jack?" Jamie asked warily before realizing what had happened. Without hesitating, Jamie bent down to grab Jack under his arms and drag him across the room to the double set of doors that led to the backyard. It didn't take long to unlock it and push the door open, but just as he reached down to drag Jack outside into the frigid afternoon, something barreled into him from behind, and Jamie tumbled to the wood floor of his home with a yelp of surprise.

"Aw crap, I'm sorry there, mate. I didn't mean to run ya over." Bunnymund quickly apologized, not yet seeing the state Jack was in just yet. "I think there's gonna be some trouble though, so go find your sister and hide somewhere. A few of Pitch's fearlings are scouting around the area and Jack and I will have to... Aw crap, what happened to the gumby!?"

Jamie could only stare at the warrior rabbit in shock for a few seconds before finally coming to and responding back with. "He overheated, the house got too hot and he was sleeping while it happened and now he needs to be somewhere cold, I think."

"Are ya serious!? Aw, this is not good, mate." Bunnymund dragged his paws across his face in exasperation before finally collecting himself. "Okay, here's the new plan. You go take Frostbite upstairs and try to cool him down somehow, but whatever you do, don't go outside. I think that Pitch is here, and I'm going to see if I can hold him off while ya do that. Understand, ankle biter?"

"Yeah, but-"

"There's no time, I gotta go. Just take care of yourself and Frostbite while I'm gone."

Jamie nodded and quickly picked off on where he left off by dragging Jack upstairs, feeling a terrifying amount of dread beginning to settle in his stomach. Bunnymund's sharp emerald eyes watched him for a moment before he bounded back out the door with his boomerang in hand. The familiar sound of a fearling's sharp whiny echoed in the night, striking fear into the young teenager, and planting a seed of worry that soon began to grow into a dark feeling of despair.

Jamie could already tell that tonight was not going to have a happy ending.

* * *

The entire house was eerily silent besides the noise of the fight raging on outside. Jamie had no idea where his mother and Sophie were, and even though he was worried about them, his main priority was Jack. After placing the winter spirit on the floor in his room, the teen fumbled around with two small, electric fans and directed them at him in hopes to cool him down or at least keep him comfortable until he could figure out a better solution. Didn't air conditioning solve his overheating problem last time?

Three excruciatingly long minutes past by with no improvement in Jack's physical condition from what Jamie could see, and the whole time the sound of the fighting outside came nearer and nearer to his house. So eventually, Jamie decided to wander around upstairs in hopes of finding something that could be of use. Rushing into the bathroom, Jamie scanned the tiny room for a cooling device when something finally occurred to him. His eyebrows furrowed at the thought wondering if it would work, but a barely audible whimper from Jack in the other room sent him running back downstairs to grab a bucket of ice cubes from the freezer and begin filling the bathtub with them.

Twisting the nozzle so that freezing cold water began filling the tub, Jamie rushed back into the other room and began to drag Jack into the bathroom. Once he was in the small room, he kicked the door shut and propped Jack up against the side of the bathtub. He could only pray that this would work or else the Easter Bunny was going to have a tough time fending off all the fearlings by himself.

"I hope this works," Jamie grunted as he stepped into the bathtub to hull Jack in, only to yelp in pain and shock at how cold the water was. Wincing at the uncomfortable prickliness that stabbed at his feet and lower legs, the teen pulled with all his remaining strength to get Jack into the water. The winter spirit flopped into the bath with a loud splash, soaking the trembling teen's clothes with icy bath water.

Instantly, Jamie moved to get out only to realize his mistake moments later when Jack sunk below the water's surface, still unconscious and unable to help himself up. Freaking out momentarily, the teen quickly pulled Jack up by his shoulders and held him there, praying that he would wake up before his feet went completely numb.

"Come on Jack, please wake up," Jamie pleaded, wincing as a loud thud hit the roof. "We need you, and besides, I'm pretty sure I won't have feet anymore if I stay in here for another minute. _Please Jack_."

It was hard to concentrate on anything but the agony of the freezing temperature of the water, and Jamie briefly wondered if this was the sort of pain Jack went through if he was stuck in a hot environment for any period of time.

There was another loud bang that racketed through the house before what sounded like the window to Jamie's bedroom being forcefully shoved open, and the windows hit the walls with a loud crack. For a few seconds, Jamie didn't think much of it assuming that it was the Easter Bunny until a sickening laugh cut through the quietness of the house. "Oh Jack, you think you can hide from me, and have your little Bunny friend do all the fighting for you? Come now, I thought we had an understanding that this is our fight, and ours alone."

Sheer panic coursed through Jamie's veins as the sinister voice cut through the halls of the upstairs, it wouldn't be long before he found them. There was no way they would be able to defend themselves from the Nightmare King if Jamie didn't do something and fast.

Without realizing it his fingers began to grip Jack's thin shoulders in a vice grip as his frenzied thoughts racked through his mind. The winter spirit winced at the uncomfortable sensation before his eyes flickered open once more to stare up at Jamie's face in concern, barely finding the strength to stay awake. The young teen wasn't looking down however, since his unwavering gaze was focused on the door, fear consuming every inch of his facial expressions.

A short raspy noise cut through the quietness of the room, and Jamie nearly jumped out of his skin as a cold hand weakly gripped his upper arm. Glancing downwards so fast that his neck protested at the strain, the young teen felt a tiny smile tug at his face upon seeing Jack awake once more.

The winter spirit frowned at the failed attempt to speak, after being in the hot, dry air of the house for so long that it had effected his throat terribly. Jack released his grip on Jamie's arm and massaged the painful ache that had settled there before finally clearing his throat and asking in just above a whisper. "Why are we in a bathtub together?"

Jamie almost laughed at the bizarre question, happy that Jack was looking a lot more like his usual pale self, but he forced himself to stop in case Pitch heard him. "Listen Jack, the nightmare guy is here and he's looking for us-"

"I'm growing impatient, Jack. Show yourself, or I will be forced to resort to some _drastic_ measures." The Nightmare King threatened with his tone sounding dangerous yet amused at the situation. "I will take the boy, and you will know fear like no other after tonight is over. That, I can promise you with the upmost certainty."

Afraid that if he stepped out of the bathtub the sound would attract Pitch's attention, Jamie remained where he was, uncaring that his toes where beginning to turn purple. It was like a scene out of horror movie, but if he had turned to look at the winter spirit who was standing up shakily next to him, he would have seen the pure anger that radiated off every inch of his body after hearing Pitch's threat from the other room.

The harsh, coarse noise of sand slithering across the floor came first before the footsteps that trailed leisurely behind. There was a creak of a door opening across the hall to his parent's bedroom, and Jamie tensed in anticipation before Pitch announced almost playfully. "Hm, not in here either. Oh now, this is exciting! Only two more doors to open, and I know you two are up here."

"Jamie, I'm going to need you to jump out of this bathtub as fast as you can and take cover on the floor as soon as that door starts to open." Jack demanded with such purpose that Jamie could only nod in understanding, his muscles tensed and ready to spring him out of the cold water. However, Jamie still felt a flicker of doubt cross his mind as a thought occurred to him that Jack's staff was still downstairs on the sofa. Could he still fend off Pitch in his current state plus have no staff to back him up?

Jamie glanced over at the winter spirit and felt his eyes widen at the determined look set on the guardian's face. Even against the odds, Jack knew what he was doing, and he was finally going to take control of this situation unlike Jamie who felt completely useless and scared out of his mind.

The handle on the door twisted to the left about to open, and Jamie took that as his cue to propel himself out of the water and onto the floor just as a wave of water rose from the bathtub. Jamie quickly glanced up and watch in fascination as the water was turned into hundreds of razor sharp icicles which were soon after propelled through the air and towards the unsuspecting Nightmare King who cried out in pain as they tore through him before he began dissolving his body into the darkness of the hallway and away from harm.

The winter spirit bounded into the hallway with an angry yell, unconsciously freezing the water that was leftover on the bathroom floor as he left. Jamie quickly got to his feet and followed after his friend down the hallway a bit unsteadily with all the slippery ice that coated the floors. He skid to a halt though at the entrance of Sophie's doorway unable to see past Jack's rigid form.

"Let her go," Jack growled out dangerously, his eyes glowing a fierce sapphire.

Jamie's eyes widened in disbelief as he finally glanced around Jack to the helpless form of his sister dangling in Pitch's grasp. To Jamie's horror he realized all at once that his sister was never with their mom after all, and had been here in danger the whole time without him knowing. Terrified emerald eyes held his own as if begging her big brother to rush in and save her like he had always done in the past.

"You know, I don't think I will." Pitch said with a grin, as he lifted Sophie up by the back part of her pajama shirt to look her in the eyes. "We're going to have so much fun together, aren't we, my dear?"

"J-Jamie!" Sophie wailed, struggling to breaking free form Pitch's hold.

The Nightmare King's satisfied look only intensified as he lowered her, but still held her dangling off the floor so he could lock his intense gaze with Jack's. His expression suddenly became serious once more as he knowingly told the winter spirit, "You know where to find me."

Jack rushed forward to try to stop Pitch, but it was too late and the Nightmare King had already disappeared through the floor without a trace with Sophie as his prisoner.

* * *

**A/N: Words cannot express how truly sorry I am to have not have updated this story for so long. My life just got extremely stressful during the beginning of the year to put it mildly, and now I sort have free time again for a while. I still have the outline of this story done, so it will be finished eventually, but it's been so long that I'm struggling to remember the characters personalities, so if things seem a little off then hopefully I'll be able to get everyone back into character soon. I'm probably going to have to watch the movie again to make sure I'm doing everything the way I had imagined it a few months ago. _I'll try to update as frequently as I can, but it still might be awhile for the next one since I'm just getting back into writing this story._**


	18. Into Darkness

**Forever**

Chapter 18: Into Darkness

* * *

Sophie was gone.

That thought alone was enough to drive Jack to his knees as he stared blankly at the spot where she'd disappeared. He had failed as a guardian to protect her, and the guilt that tore through him nearly made him sick. In all honesty, Jack was fully expecting Jamie to turn on him and place all the blame of this situation on him, but as he looked over his shoulder to see the teary eyed boy he stilled.

Streams of tears trailed down the young teenager's face as he walked over to stand beside the winter spirit, but there was no hate or anger that Jack had been expecting from him. The only emotions Jack could detect were sadness and lingering fear for his sister.

"She's gone," Jamie breathed in disbelief, barely believing that Pitch had taken her so easily.

Forcing his drained body off the ground, Jack placed a steady hand on Jamie's shoulder and told him with as much certainty as he could. "I'll get her back. I promise."

His friend didn't respond back for several seconds, and Jack eventually turned around to walk over to the window of Sophie's room. Grunting as he forced it to open, Jack perched on the windowsill, observing the outside for any trace of Pitch when Jamie spoke up behind him.

"Wait!" The winter spirit jumped at the loud exclamation, and whirled around to watch Jamie take a few steps closer to him. "I want to go with you."

It took the winter spirit a second to realize that Jamie probably thought he was going to fly off, and he quickly stepped down to reassure him that he wasn't going to leave right away. Frowning though at the resolution he heard in the boy's voice, Jack knew it was going to be hard to persuade Jamie that it would be too dangerous if he tagged along. "Listen Jamie, I know that you want to save Sophie, but it would be too hard for me to keep an eye on you and another on Pitch. I couldn't guarantee that you'll be safe."

"I don't care, Jack." Jamie nearly snapped back, holding his ground. "That's my sister, and I want to help bring her back. Besides it'll be easier to get her back if there's two of us anyways. While you fight off Pitch, I can be looking for Sophie."

"Yeah but-"

"I know you're a guardian and all, but I'm her big brother. Please, let me help."

The winter spirit fell silent, contemplating this situation and wondering if this was going to be another huge mistake or not. Yet there were so many possibilities, and he had no clue what Pitch was expecting him to do. For all he knew, the Nightmare King would probably be waiting for his chance for Jack to leave Jamie so he could snatch him up. It would probably be safer if Jamie came along with him after all, much to his dismay.

"Fine, fine, you can come, but only if you get my staff off the couch downstairs then meet me outside."

"Okay, I'll be there in less than a minute," Jamie said reassuringly before sprinting off downstairs where it was probably still hot enough to melt an ice cube in a matter of seconds.

Jack watched him go still feeling uneasy about his decision, but finally he leapt down to the yard outside to scan the area for any signs of Pitch, his fearlings, or Bunny. There was hardly any noise besides the late night traffic, and the only evidence that a fight had taken place were the markings in the snow. Glancing around and hoping to catch sight of Bunny to make sure he was okay, Jack frowned worriedly when he could find no trace of where the warrior rabbit had gone.

When the front door slammed open and shut, Jack quickly ran over to Jamie's side and thankfully accepted his most treasured possession. "Alright kiddo, we're going to have to fly, so hang on tight." Reaching out a hand for the boy to take, Jamie didn't hesitate to grab onto it, but the chill from the outdoors plus Jack's icy hand caused him to shiver uncontrollably.

Jack couldn't allow himself to waste more time and feel sorry for his friend though, and quickly summoned the wind to take them to Pitch's layer. The wind greedily scooped them both up off the ground, and sent them soaring towards their destination. The ominous storm clouds darkened overhead as the neared the woods, warning them of what was to come.

* * *

Just beyond the fence of Jamie and Sophie's backyard near the pond, Bunnymund finished off the last of the fearlings and sat back on the cold ground to rest for a few seconds. Drawing in gasping puffs of cool night air, Bunnymund wished more than ever to be someplace warm that also had tons of bandages. Every part of his body ached, and even though he beat down every one of his foes, he still felt as if he was missing out on something. The fearlings wouldn't have been sent here without cause, and Bunnymund was almost certain that they were only here for a distraction.

Commanding his sore limbs to cooperate, Bunny started to get up to head back towards the house only to pause briefly as a gust of wind ruffled through his fur. It was unexpected and it didn't match with the weather at all so when he looked up and saw Jack flying at a break neck speed towards where Pitch's hideout was, Bunnymund knew something bad had happened. His sharp eyes zoned in on the winter spirit and felt his jaw hang open in shock as he realized that he had someone with him that looked suspiciously a lot like Jamie.

"You bloody, stupid-! Gah!" Bunnymund began to rant up at the sky before forcing himself to calm down, and think logically.

It wasn't as if he had the emergency device that North had given them, so his options were severely limited. He would have to decide between telling the other guardians about their emergency, or go after Jack and Jamie to Pitch's layer.

Letting out a huff of exasperated air, Bunny finally decided that Jack alone should be more than capable of handling Pitch while he ran for help. The winter spirit had gotten a lot of extra sleep recently and was probably at close to full power, so the two of them should be just fine for a few minutes.

Deciding that he couldn't wait any longer, Bunnymund tapped the snowy ground and created a hole leading to the North Pole. However, a few leaps down the tunnel, the rabbit quickly realized that his leg had been injured badly by one of the fearlings. Bunnymund had no choice but to slow down, and try to continue on, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.

* * *

It was easy enough for Jack to find the entrance to Pitch's layer once again, and carefully he lowered himself and Jamie to the ground a few feet from it. The forest was quiet, suggesting the Pitch had been here a little while before they showed up.

"So, this is the Boogeyman's place?" Jamie asked curiously, eyeing the small hole in the ground warily.

"Sadly yes, this is his place," Jack confirmed as he began scanning for any obvious signs of a trap.

"We're going to have to go down there, aren't we?"

"Yeah and hopefully we can find Sophie and make a run for it before anything else happens." Jack replied, readying himself to leap down the dark hole. One look at Jamie told him that the young teen wasn't too keen either to take a leap of faith into pure darkness.

"Alright, let's go before I chicken out then," Jamie said with a slight tremor in his voice that only added to Jack's anger towards Pitch. The Nightmare King had done enough to him and his friends already, and now he was going to set things straight. He was going to show Pitch that he could not harm his friends and expect to get away with it unscathed.

"Okay, let's go on three," Jack suggested, stepping forward with Jamie towards the seemingly unending darkness. The fall would be a long one if Jack remembered correctly, so he kept his powers focused on keeping the wind nearby and held on securely to Jamie's hand.

"One... Two... Three!"

* * *

When they reached the bottom, both Jack and Jamie stumbled around to find their footing on the uneven cave floor. The air was stale, and it held an earthy and musty scent to it as they moved further down into the domain. Both of Jack's hands were tied up at the moment, so he had to trust the wind to guide them through the place blindly since he held his staff in one hand and Jamie's hand in the other. The boy was obviously scared, but was too determined to ask him to take him back to the surface.

"Stay close to me, Jamie. I think we're almost there." Jack warned his friend as they weaved through the last of the maze like tunnel and into the giant open area that held the steel world globe filled with millions of tiny, glowing lights. Upon looking up, both boys saw endless stone bridges, and many tunnels that led to limitless places. There were even cave like openings high up on the walls that would be the perfect place to camp out and look over the vast place. It was definitely a suitable domain for the Nightmare King.

"Whoa, this place is huge."

Jack didn't respond as he crept forward, all his senses on high alert as he searched the cavern for any signs of Sophie or Pitch. They snuck around to the other side of the globe, hoping to remain as hidden as possible behind the structure because Jack knew that in this place, hiding in shadows did not help in the slightest.

"Alright, I'm going to need my hand back, Jamie." Jack whispered, giving the boy one last reassuring squeeze before letting go as he heard the slightest sounds of a whimper originating from a tunnel up ahead. Jamie huddled in close to his back, refusing to stray far from Jack's side as they moved towards one of the arches leading to another part of Pitch's place. However, the ground quickly turned wet as the approached a small pond in front of the archway, and although Jack could freeze a path to their destination, Jamie was struggling to maintain his already shaky balance.

"J-Jack, I'm gonna fall," The young teen whisper-screamed as his arms flailed to keep himself upright.

The winter spirit quickly turned to grab onto Jamie's upper arm to steady him, but it was too late. Jamie tilted to the side and landed with a loud splash that echoed throughout the entire cavern, alerting everyone in the place to their presence.

Jack hurriedly pulled Jamie out of the water and onto the shoreline once more beneath one of the long narrow bridges that lead to more passageways and dead ends. "Are you okay?" Jack asked in a slightly panicked tone as he struggled to see Jamie in the dim lighting.

"Yeah, I think so, but I'm covered in muck." Jamie replied with disgust as he shook globs of it off his arms and legs.

"That's good, then let's keep going. I think Sophie might be that way." Jack pointed towards where they were headed, hoping Jamie could at least see the outline of his arm before the winter spirit tugged him up to his feet again.

They approached the water once more, and without any warning the winter spirit stopped and began backpedaling, taking Jamie with him. Before the boy could ask what was wrong a huge serpent head rose out of the filthy water and watched them both with hungry crimson orbs. It observed them for a moment before it's eyes dilated and the beast lunged out of the pond towards the two teenagers. Without sparing another thought, Jack moved and grabbed Jamie by the back of his shirt as he flew upwards in the cavern, hovering above the globe.

From what the winter spirit could tell, it was an alligator made of black sand that Pitch must have created. It looked as if Pitch had gotten more practice at Sandy's powers during the few years he was stuck down here, and was starting to branch out from the regular horses he was always making with his nightmare sand. The nightmare alligator was definitely a lot worse than an average guard dog, that was for sure.

"Oh, how nice of you both to visit," An amused voice cut in from seemingly nowhere in the darkness. "I see you two have met the newest addition to my creations."

"Pitch, stop this! Our fight is between you and me, so leave the kids out of it!" Jack angrily snapped back.

"For being the guardian of fun, you've been such a fun sucker as of recently." Pitch rang back, his voice originating from several areas at once. "I will not being giving the child back simply because you're asking so nicely. I do have plans that still need to be carried out, and she will be needed for them."

"And you've been doing such a great job of going through with those 'plans'. All you've done so far is torment two innocent kids. I have a feeling that whatever plans you have in store isn't as grand as you think to believe, Pitch."

"You see that's where you're wrong, but there's no need to discuss that now." The Nightmare King practically purred from the shadows. "Now, let's begin shall we?"

As Jack landed on the ground, he and Jamie took in the sight of hundreds of fearlings pouring into the large caverns from the many tunnels in front of them, and to his horror some of the stallions even rose from the ground. There was no way he was going to be able to protect Jamie while fighting back against so many enemies at once.

Seeming to sense this, Jamie glanced over at Jack with fear in his chocolate eyes before a new emotion took it's place. "I'm going to make a run for it and look for Sophie while you take care of things here."

Jack nodded before preparing himself to fight, hoping that Jamie would be able to outrun any fearlings that tried to go after him.

"Interesting decision, Jack. Now let's see how this plays out, shall we?" Pitch commented as he stepped out of the shadows in front of Jack, on one of the many narrow bridges in the cave.

"This ends now, Pitch!" Jack yelled as he charged the Nightmare King, feeling his magical energy spark at the ready deep inside of him.

* * *

In the end, Jack admitted that spending too much time in hot environments, fighting every couple of days, and all the emotional drama had taken it's tole on his body more than what he would have liked to admit. The winter spirit gasped in pain as another fearling trampled over him and knocked him down to the rigid ground once more, slicing his cheek open painfully on the uneven stoned floor. However, the snowy haired teen refused to give in even though he hadn't managed to get a hit on the Nightmare King once. Pulling his last sources of strength from his body, Jack stood up and swayed on his feet as the physical exhaustion weighed down upon him.

"Are you willing to admit defeat now, Jack?"

"N-Never... I won't... let you win." Jack breathed out painfully as his re-broken rib ached like a stab wound in his side. His free hand braced against the side of his body in a pathetic attempt to lesson the pain as he tried to suck in air to his heaving lungs.

"Do you really think you're going to win?" Pitch questioned condescendingly, his patience wearing thin as he stalked towards Jack with his piercing, golden eyes narrowed. "I hardly think a victory is looming in the future for you, Jack. Give up already, and admit that I've won this pathetic scuffle."

Standing only a few feet apart from each other as Pitch drew nearer, Jack knew that if he so much as moved now then he would fall from exhaustion. He was standing by pure determination alone, and there was no possible way for him to escape now. However, right as Pitch moved forward to grab Jack by the neck, a loud scream sounded from down one of the tunnels. Pitch's eyes narrowed even further as he contemplated on whether or not to investigate the sound, but in the end he left without another word, disappearing into the floor.

Jack collapsed to the ground in an instant, unable to keep up the facade of him still being able to fight any longer. He was instantly surrounded by fearlings which knocked his staff a couple meters away out of his reach, but thankfully was unharmed. The shadow stallions did nothing except watch him carefully as they waited for their master to return which should have made Jack thankful, but it only heightened his concern. When Pitch appeared again right in front of him with a terrified looking Sophie held up in one of his hands, Jack trembled as he tried to get his muscles to move for him.

"Poor thing, she got frightened by one of my fearlings," Pitch told the winter spirit with false sympathy. "But at least now you know that she was nearby all this time, and you failed to save her from her fate."

"Pitch, I swear if you don't let go of her, I'll-"

With a sigh of what sounded like boredom, Pitch let go of Sophie before Jack even finished his threat, and didn't even bother to watch as she smacked painfully to the ground on her hands and knees. Instantly, the little girl wailed in pain, and Jack tried desperately to get up to comfort her when one of the fearlings pressed a hoof down on his back and pinned him to the floor.

"There, I let her go, now what else do you suggest I do?"

Practically growling at the smirking, heartless creature, Jack writhed on the ground in an attempt to free himself only to cry out as the fearling placed more of it's weight on him and his broken rib seared with agony. So this was it, Jack Frost submitting to the Nightmare King and failing to protect two of the most precious friends in his long three-hundred years of afterlife. The despair of this situation hit him hard, and Jack went limp underneath the fearling's crushing hold.

"Finally giving in? It's good that you-" Pitch began only to be cut off as a large rock smacked into the side of his head, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Jack winced as he glanced up to see Jamie hovering over Pitch's body with another rock in his hands looking both terrified yet angry at seeing Sophie and Jack's current states.

"If you horses don't back off of Jack right now, I'll throw another one at him." Jamie declared as threateningly as he could, tensing his throwing arm as he did so.

The fearlings glanced unsurely at each other before they slowly back away into the shadows once more, becoming mere onlookers of the dramatic scene taking place in the center of the Nightmare King's domain.

* * *

**A/N: Well um, this chapter was a lot darker than what intended it to be, and it only goes downhill from here so... I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and thank you so much for all the kind reviews, they mean a lot to me. I ended up having to end this chapter earlier than what I had intended in my chapter outline, so the next chapter is going to be very dark and angsty again. I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible though :)**


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